Shocked
by Exotos135
Summary: After Nico collapses from watching something horrifying, Umi, Honoka, Nozomi, and especially Maki try to find out what happened.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everybody, Exotos "Still-Making-Fanfics-Of-Things-Other-Than-Loud-House-I-See" 135 here, bringing you something I'm not very used to writing: Not only an anime fanfic, but a mystery one at that.**

 **Okay, so I'm not a stranger to mystery myself, but the mystery is more along the lines of disturbing rather than intriguing. At least, I hope it is.**

 **Anyway, I got inspiration for this story based on the previous times I accidentally wound up digging too deep in the dark side of the internet... but I figured that wouldn't be creepy enough, so I decided to kick it up a little notch.**

 **What did I do? Well, you gotta read to find out. As for whether I'm going to continue this story or not...**

 **Oh look, the chapter's starting! XD**

* * *

 ** _Yazawa Residence, Nico's room..._**

" _Why did I see that? Why didn't I say no?_ "

That exact sentence repeated itself ad nauseum in Nico Yazawa's head, as the girl stared at the ceiling, her normally vibrant eyes now tiny and shivering, while her skin was as pale as the snow.

"Nico?"

The girl's mind stopped saying that sentence before she slowly, weakly turned to the source of the voice: One of her fellow idols, Honoka Kosaka, holding a glass of water.

There were other idols as well:

Nozomi Tojo stood by her side, sporting a motherly look while she gently caressed Nico's hand.

Umi Sonoda, who was talking with somebody on the phone.

And finally, the one idol Nico wasn't happy to see, Maki Nishikino, who leaned against the wall, looking at Nico with a worried look.

"Okay, got it, thanks," Umi said before hanging up. "The paramedics will be here as soon as possible. But until then, we need to keep Nico hydrated, fed, and most importantly, calm."

"You heard that, Nico? The paramedics will come soon," Nozomi told the disturbed girl as she grabbed Honoka's glass of water and took a sip of it. "So, hang in there, sweetie."

Nico weakly smiled, which slowly fainted as she turned to see Umi walking to her. "Okay, Nico, try this: Breath in, and out."

Umi did the motions: She took a deep breath, then exhaled before gesturing Nico to do the same. The girl managed to repeat the motions, but she briefly hesitated when she glanced at Maki looking at her with concern.

It wasn't long before the others noticed, with Umi being the one to ask, "Uh, Maki, did you-?"

"Don't even finish that sentence!" Maki snapped. "I had nothing to do with Nico's collapse!"

Nico wekaly glared at Maki, even going so far as to try grit her teeth. However, she didn't have enough strength to do so, and Nozomi quickly gestured her to stop.

"Nico, please, you need to reserve your strengths," Nozomi told the girl, gently brushing her shoulder. "I know, how about you show us why are you angry with Maki?"

"Bag..." Nico weakly pointed at her school bag. "Phone..."

Umi walked to the bag and took out Nico's phone, which was half-charged.

Nico promptly said, "Messages..."

Umi entered the messages, and Honoka went to her side as she read the first of several messages:

"Hello, Nico, it's Maki! Hey, I found this little story online that I found very interesting, maybe you could check it out sometime?"

"The next message is just a link to the story," Honoka said as she and Umi turned to Maki, who had a look of mixed anger and horror. "It seems to be titled Maki Maki Macabre."

Maki's eyes shrunk as Nico clutched her chest, shivering a bit more than before.

And as Nozomi comforted Nico, Maki rubbed her temples, growling, "The story had such a title, and yet you still read it, Nico!?"

"Calm down, Nico, the horror's over," Nozomi turned to Umi and Honoka, "Delete those messages right now."

Umi nodded, and as she deleted the messages, Honoka got up and walked to the disturbed Maki, saying:

"Maki, those messages were sent today, hours before Nico collapsed. But, how could you send them if you lost your phone yesterday?"

Nico blinked twice and weakly said. "Lost?"

The redheaded muse walked closer to Nico, making sure to mind both her step and her tone as she grabbed Nico's hand and said:

"Nico, I don't know who sent you those messages, but I swear I didn't do it! I lost my phone yesterday, and I spent the whole day looking for it with the rest of Muse!"

Nico slowly turned to Nozomi and Honoka, who nodded to confirm her suspicions. She then turned back to Maki, who held back tears as she stated:

"I would never hurt you, Nico. Not with bad intentions, good intentions, not even as a prank!"

"Maki..." Nico slowly, weakly smiled. "Maki..."

The redhead smiled and nodded. "Yeah, Nico. I'm here."

The duo shared a gentle hug, with Nozomi making sure Maki didn't use more force than necessary.

And a couple hours later, the paramedics arrived and took Nico to the hospital, with the Yazawas and the idols waved goodbye. Not long after they left, Maki was immediately hit by Nico's younger sisters.

"It's because of you Nico's in the hospital!"

"We hate you! We hate you!"

"Girls, that's enough!" Nico's Mom said as she pulled her daughters away from Maki. "I'm sure there must be more to this!"

"We believe that too," Umi said, folding her arms.

"Maki lost her phone yesterday, so we were helping her look for it when we heard Nico screaming in the clubroom," Nozomi explained, frowning as she added, "We dropped everything to check her, but when we found her, she was on the floor unconscious, with the clubroom's laptop turned on."

The Yazawas gasped, prompting Honoka to say, "D-Don't worry, though, there was nothing there!"

The family sighed in relief, and Nozomi said, "We'll keep investigating what happened in our free time, until we find out who sent Nico those disturbing messages."

"Understood. Thanks again for bringing Nico home," Nico's Mom told the girls. "We'll keep an eye on Nico while you look for whoever sent her those messages."

The woman frowned. "Oh, and... please, be careful. It's already terrible that my poor baby girl collapsed, it'd be worse if her friends collapsed too."

"Except for Maki," the younger Yazawa children said. "She deserves it."

"Girls!" the woman snapped. "That's it, we're going back inside. Say goodbye to the girls."

"Bye!"

The Yazawas went back inside and the girls left afterwards, with Maki stating, "Okay, first things first: Find my phone tomorrow after school."

"Yeah!" Honoka exclaimed, raising her arm. "And what do we do after that?"

"We'll pay Nico a visit, I guess," Umi said, before glancing at Maki, "Well, Honoka, Nozomi, and I'll pay her a visit."

Maki stopped on her tracks, causing the others to stop before Maki slowly turned to them, sporting a concerned look. "Just you three?"

Honoka and Umi exchanged looks as Nozomi walked towards Maki, put a hand on her shoulder, and calmly explained:

"Maki, we know that you're just as worried about Nico as we are, but the thing is, as far as anybody knows, the messages that lead Nico to... whatever she saw, were from your phone. And until the situation's cleared up, everybody's going to assume that you were the one who sent her those messages."

Maki lowered her head and sadly nodded, which was followed by Nozomi smiling and gently brushing Maki's head as she said, "Everything's going to be just fine, don't worry."

The redhead's frown slowly turned into a smile and her look turned into a hopeful one, feeling a slight bit of hope resurfacing... and then the mood was ruined by a ringtone being heard out of nowhere.

But this was no ordinary ringtone, as Maki quickly realized:

"That's my ringtone!"

The girls immediately ran around the place, searching for the source of the sound, until they found it... inside a trashcan, close to the bus stop. The girls hesitated for a moment, until Maki took a deep breath and held it as she put her arm inside the trash can, and took out Maki's phone from it.

She then exhaled and checked her phone as Umi and Honoka winced in unison, the latter saying, "I hope you wash your arm when you get back home, Maki!"

Maki nodded and saw the ringtone was because she got a new message. So she opened her messages and found the newest one came from an interesting sender:

"Unknown Number"

"Wait, we were just talking about looking for Maki's phone, and now she's getting a message from an unknown number?" Umi pointed out, scratching her head. "You think it might be the person that sent Nico those messages?"

Maki sighed. "There's only one way to find out."

The girls went closer to Maki as she opened the message, and what did it say?

"Thanks for letting me borrow your phone. I sure hope that Nico enjoyed the little story I made for her. Maybe you should see it too sometime-"

Maki deleted the message without hesitation... only for a link to appear next, prompting her to delete that message too.

"How horrible, first she makes Nico collapse from... whatever she showed her, and now she wants to do the same to you?" Nozomi recapped, narrowing her eyes. "What kind of sick joke is this?"

"And most importantly," Umi said. "How did she know to call you precisely at this moment?"

Maki flinched and started looking around, hoping to see any signs of the sender around, or at least something that gave her a clue as to how it happened. However, it wasn't long before Nozomi returned her to reality:

"Calm down, Maki, freaking out won't help anybody."

The redhead took a deep breath. "You're right, Mrs. Ayazawa said it herself. But still, I can't help but wonder if that degenerate's watching us as we speak."

The girls looked around some more, until Nozomi folded her arms and said, "Anyhow, we should get back to the clubroom, and tell the rest of the girls about what happened."

Umi and Honoka nodded in agreement, and they then turned to Maki, who looked sternly at her phone before she saved it in her pocket and said:

"Yeah, let's get going."

And so the girls walked back to the school, with a single thought shared between their minds:

" _Who would do such a thing?_ "

* * *

 **And that'll be it for now. Truth be told, while I could develop this into a bigger story, I don't know if I could keep everybody in-character while doing so. Heck, maybe everybody in this little one-shot is super OOC and I haven't even noticed!**

 **But yeah, I have a little something to add: My previous experiences weren't the only thing that inspired me to write this little story. Another, peculiar Love Live story, one also featuring Nico oddly enough, gave me a bit of inspiration.**

 **Don't worry, I didn't read it... after reading its content on the summary, I just couldn't.**

 **And before anybody asks, yes, I believe this story could've worked better for Halloween, but guess what? I got the idea after the holiday had passed! What are the odds?!**

 **But anyway, I hope you enjoyed this little story I wrote. And I'm sorry if it was a bit anticlimactic, but hey, gotta work with what we got.**

 **So, see you next time, everyone. Wherever that may be...**


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, so I guess I got some things to explain: I got more motivation to write this than the "Phoenix Host Doremi" story, so I figured, hey, why not keep this going?**

 **And before you ask, no, I'm not going to update this weekly. I've learned my lesson, and now, I'll only update this when I'm sure the chapter is ready. No ifs or buts, no early, no later.**

 **How long will it be? Well, this is a mystery story, so... let me know how long do you think mystery stories generally are, and I'll decide how long this'll be based on that.**

 **Anyway, we continue the story where we left off, but first, let's answer some reviews:**

 **1) Dark Gatomon X: Here's another chapter, pal!**

 **2) ja669543: You know, considering how any character in a fanfic being even a little OOC can spell infinite backlash from the community, I'm glad there's someone like you, who's willing to let it slide as long as it's natural and fits within the story. Then again, I'm not entirely sure if I succeeded in that, but hey, it's worth a shot. XD**

 **And now, to the chapter!**

* * *

At the school's rooftop, Maki, Honoka, Umi, and Nozomi finished telling the rest of Muse what happened with Nico, and why she wasn't present there. And, of course, they were rather saddened by the news.

"Poor Nico," Hanayo said, her hands clasped together. "It must've been horrible: Thinking a friend of yours sent you a link to something so horrific."

"Yeah, and that friend being Maki, nya!" Rin added. "That's probably the only reason she even bothered to check it, though."

"What are you implying, Rin?" Maki sternly asked.

"Well, out of all of Muse, you and Nico seem to... get along the most," Kotori answered, pausing a moment to think her words carefully so as to not anger the redhead. "If anybody else had sent the message, Nico probably would've had second thoughts about it."

"Now that you mention it," Maki scratched her chin. "It's a bit suspicious that she actually checked the link at all. And I don't think we asked her if she checked the link right away, did we?"

"No, we didn't," Umi answered. "Then again, she was so weak at that time that she could only speak in single words. And asking her to remember what happened was probably too much."

"Okay, so, Nico will be resting for a while, that much is clear," Eli said as she folded her arms. "Do any of you know how long she's going to stay hospitalized?"

"No, but I'll be sure to ask when I go visit the hospital where Nicocchi's staying at when I get the chance," Nozomi answered. "I'll make sure to see if she's gotten any better since I last saw her, and when I'm done, I'll tell you if she's any better or not."

"Good to know, thanks, Nozomi," Eli took a deep breath. "Until then, we'll just have to continue practicing without Nico. Everybody change clothes, pick a partner, and let's begin."

The girls nodded and went ahead with the pairing, with the quartet of Honoka, Umi, Nozomi, and Maki exchanging concerned looks before they joined the rest.

 ** _Sometime later..._**

Honoka and Maki were eating lunch together, the latter looking considerably upset. And just as Honoka tried to say something, Maki stated:

"They used my phone in order to trick Nico into watching something horrible, Honoka! It's already bad enough that Nico collapsed because of it, but it's even worse to think that, if you and the others weren't there, and if we hadn't been searching for my phone when that happened, who knows what she would've thought!"

"Well, look at the bright side! We did search for your phone, and Nico is now resting from the macabre stuff!" Honoka replied. "And we found your phone too! Now, whoever sent Nico the message won't be able to do it again!"

With that said, Maki thought about something and asked, "Honoka?"

"Yes, Maki?"

The redhead played with her hair and avoided eye contact as she nervously asked:

"You... haven't checked the "Maki Maki Macabre" story since Nico collapsed, have you?"

Honoka's eyes widened and her irises shrunk, which was followed by the girl grabbing Maki's shoulder and stating, with a panicky tone:

"M-Maki, whatever you're thinking, stop it right now! Even if you think it'll help Nico somehow, that doesn't mean you should do it!"

"Calm down, Honoka, I'm not planning to read the story!" Maki replied, putting her hands in her friend's shoulders. "I was just asking because... how do I put this..."

Honoka shivered. "Please don't tell me you're curious about it."

"I'm not so much curious about the story itself, but the writer of said story," Maki folded her arms. "Whether we like it or not, somebody had to write that disgusting thing. And judging by the title alone, they're one sick person. Maybe even a hater of Muse."

"Well, even if we did know what the author's name was, would it really be that helpful?" Honoka argued. "After all, everybody's anonymous on the internet. Just because we know the author's name doesn't mean we'll immediately know who they are."

"Dang it, you're right..." Maki sighed. "Still, we should consider finding out who the writer was anyway. If only to be sure we or Nico don't stumble upon their work ever again."

Honoka nodded in agreement, and the girls continued to eat their lunch, feeling slightly relieved.

 ** _Meanwhile, at the hospital..._**

Nico Yazawa rested on a bed, her forehead and left arm wrapped with bandages, the latter which she looked at with a concerned look.

"Hi, Nico."

The hospitalized idol slowly turned around and saw Nozomi at the door. She smiled a little bit as the motherly idol walked up to her.

"Nozomi, you came to visit me?" Nico weakly asked as Nozomi sat down. "Y-You didn't have to... and besides... I thought Ma-"

"Sshh, don't mention her name, lest you remember that... thing, that put you in this," Nozomi gently shushed the girl. "And besides, I want to see how you're doing. See if you've been feeling better since... yesterday."

"Well... I'm a bit better, at least," Nico answered. "The doctors gave me some medicine... I slept for a good couple of hours once I got here... and next thing I know, I can talk normally now. As long as I don't put too much stress on my mouth, or don't open it too much."

"That's great," Nozomi's smile slightly faltered. "But you still have to stay here for a while, don't you?"

"Yeah, according to the doctors, I'm going to need to rest for about a week before I can return to Muse," Nico flashed a smile. "But don't worry, I'll be back to a hundred percent in no time!"

Nozomi hummed with a smile, getting Nico's attention. "What's wrong?"

"You seem oddly cheerful about this situation," the motherly girl answered. "I thought you'd be a bit angrier about being stuck here for a week."

"Well, I do feel a bit sorry that the rest of Muse won't have Nico's greatness present for a whole week," Nico sighed. "But, if there's anything I've learned from you and Muse, is to always stay optimistic."

Nozomi smiled as she reached for her back and took out a gift box. "I brought you a gift-"

"It's a cake, isn't it?" Nico asked. "The doctor says that I should rest my head muscles as much as possible, so I shouldn't eat anything hard or that needs me to chew it."

Nozomi stood paralyzed as soon as she heard that, and she broke a sweat as she realized what this meant. "W-Well, I guess I can save it for later... after you recover..."

"Yeah," Nico sighed. "So, visitor hours are about to be over-"

"What?!" Nozomi exclaimed. "But I just got here!"

"You took a while to come," Nico answered, making the motherly girl sulk. "But before you go, I just want to thank you for paying me a visit. Tell the rest of Muse that I can't wait to be back with them."

Nozomi smiled and nodded. "I'll be sure to do that."

"And also," Nico blurted, getting Nozomi's attention. "I want to know... have you found any clues as to... who sent me the message, yet?"

Nozomi remained silent for a moment, then took a deep breath and caressed Nico's forehead as she stated:

"We don't have any clues right now. But I assure you, Nico, as soon as we get even the smallest, vaguest of hints, we'll work on it right away."

Nico smiled. "Thank you, Nozomi."

The duo shared a smile, and moments later, Nozomi left the room and the hospital, with Nico going back to resting soon after.

As she walked back to the school, however, Nozomi encountered a peculiar sight: Eli, the student council president, panicking and running up to her, shouting her name:

"Nozomi!"

"Eli?!" the motherly girl said as the blonde girl reached her. "What's wrong?"

"T-The school!" Eli said as she caught her breath. "M-My phone! I-It's gone! I-"

"E-Eli, calm down! Breath in and out first!" Nozomi said as the blonde idol took several deep breaths. "Now, tell me, what happened?"

"I was finishing some last-minute business at the student council room, and I looked away from my bag for a couple seconds," Eli explained. "And when I turned back and checked my bag, my phone was gone!"

Nozomi's eyes widened in shock. "Are you sure you didn't drop it somewhere in the room?"

"I checked everywhere, but I couldn't find it!" Eli answered. "And I was all alone in the room, too, so I don't think somebody stole it!"

Nozomi shook her head and sighed. "No, Eli, I think somebody really did steal it."

"But how would that be possible?!" Eli asked. "I didn't hear the closet or the door opening, I just turned around and next thing I know, my phone's gone!"

Nozomi hummed. "Let's wait for a moment."

"Wait?" Eli asked. "W-Why?"

Nozomi's phone rang. The blonde and blue-haired girl exchanged looks, Eli looking shocked while Nozomi looked stern, and then Nozomi took out her phone and saw she got a new message...

From Eli.

"This is the reason why," Nozomi showed the phone screen to the girl. "Looks like our mystery messenger struck again."

"And now they're using my phone!" Eli said in a panic, though she quickly calmed down. "Well... if they're really using my phone, then there's one thing we can do... can you open the message?"

Nozomi did as requested, and this is what it read:

"Hey, Nozomi, I just found an interesting little story online, maybe you should give it a look?"

Underneath that message was a link to the story, "Twin Pala-Rin."

"That's almost the same thing the message in Nico's phone said, right?" Eli asked, earning a nod from Nozomi. "Although, just judging by the title, the story doesn't sound so bad."

"Whether the story's good or not, this is the same person that caused Nico to collapse," Nozomi narrowed her eyes. "We can't trust them, no matter how innocent the title of the story may be."

Eli got an idea. "I'll tell the rest of Muse to reunite at the student council room, and you'll show them the message!"

Nozomi nodded in agreement and Eli ran off to do her part of the deal, leaving Nozomi alone to look at the message, and do something most people wouldn't expect from her:

Grit her teeth in disgust.


	3. Chapter 3

**2018 is about to end, and what a rollercoaster of a year it was. I managed to reboot my "Chains of Reality" fanfic, got to start another somewhat-well received story in "Wands of Destiny," and I managed to expand my horizon little by little, including this Love Live story!**

 **I didn't expect the last one to get as much attention as it did, though. It's not to the extent of something like "Requiem for a Loud" or something, but 5 favorites and 12 follows after almost one month? I'm impressed.**

 **So, I decided to post another chapter, and end the story, and the year, with a feel-good tone to it. Which is what this chapter exactly has.**

 **I don't have much else to say, so, let's get going! :)**

* * *

Most of Muse gathered at the student council room, where they sat at the table and looked at Eli's phone, with the blonde idol herself looking blue with shock.

"I can't believe the impostor struck again, and so quickly too!" Honoka said as she folded her arms. "It hasn't even been a day since Nico got her message, right?"

"No, it hasn't," Hanayo replied. "And what's weirder is that they struck moments after Nozomi paid Nico a visit at the hospital. That's suspicious."

"Definitely," Honoka nodded. "What do you think, Nozomi?"

However, Honoka got a surprise when she turned to look at the motherly idol, who not only had her arms folded, but she sported an angry expression rarely, if ever, seen from her.

She quickly ditched it when she noticed Honoka's look, however. "Oh, sorry, were you talking to me?"

"Yeah..." Honoka paused, then asked, "Nozomi, are you feeling okay?"

"Well, if you want me to be honest, I don't feel okay in the slightest," Nozomi sternly stated, her angry glare immediately returning.

"Because of the whole impersonator thing, right?" Hanayo asked.

"It's one thing to impersonate somebody and link someone to a horrifying story just for laughs," Nozomi explained, tightening her grip on her arms as she added, "It's another thing entirely to impersonate one of my friends, and hurt their soulmate!"

"Are you talking about Nico and me?!" Maki asked, narrowing her eyes. "You're talking about Nico and me, aren't you? We're just friends, not soulmates-"

"That doesn't change the fact that this _degenerate_ had the audacity to impersonate you and hurt Nicocchi while making her think they were you!" Nozomi snapped, sounding visibly angry. "And then they went ahead and upped themselves by impersonating Eli, and trying to hurt me, while I was right in front of Eli!"

Nozomi grabbed her hair and pulled it in rage. "Such a horrible behavior just grinds my gears to dust, you know!?"

"I've never seen Nozomi so angry before," Honoka said, clutching her chest. "In fact, I don't think I've ever seen her angry at all."

"Hurting Nico must be one of the few things that can get on her nerves..." Eli remarked as she looked at Nozomi with a concerned look.

Nozomi, noticing Eli's look, took several deep breaths and calmed down. "What I'm trying to say is, what the impersonator did... is terrible, and I don't approve of it."

"I'm pretty sure nobody here approves of it, Mrs. Tojo."

Everybody turned around and saw both the principal and Kotori at the doorway, the latter waving hello nervously while the former sported a serious look

"Principal Minami?" Eli remarked as the woman walked towards her. "You've heard about the impostor too?"

"Nico Yazawa's mother called to the school and told me about what happened," the principal explained. "And soon after she called, Kotori barged into my office and told me about it as well."

Kotori scratched the back of her head and smiled sheepishly. "I realized I hadn't told my Mom about it, and I wanted to let her know before anything else happened."

"Well, yeah, there's appears to be somebody impersonating members of Muse," Honoka said. "They impersonated Maki and messaged something horrifying to Nico, and then they did the same with Eli and Nozomi."

"Hmm... Okay, let's think about this," Principal Minami said. "Any specific behavior this impostor exhibited in these impersonations?"

The girls remained silent until Kotori translated: "Of the two impersonations so far, did you find anything in common between them?"

"Well, the first thing we noticed is that they take the phone of whoever they want to impersonate," Hanako explained. "Then, they send a message to someone that links them to a story."

"Judging by Nico's collapse, the story must be incredibly shocking one way or another," Umi added. "Then, when they're done, the phone is usually left in a... uncomfortable place."

The principal raised an eyebrow. "Uncomfortable place?"

"Maki's phone was found in a trashcan close to Nico's house," Eli elaborated, wincing as she added, "And we found mine at the dumpster behind the school!"

"Good lord, that's horrible!" the principal scratched her chin. "You washed your hands after you got them, right?"

Maki and Eli violently nodded and blushed, and the principal thought about the information she just got.

"Okay, so the first one impersonated was Maki, a first year, and her phone was found near Nico's house. The next one impersonated was Eli, a third year-"

"The impostor skipped a year!" Hanayo said.

The principal nodded and continued, "And her phone was found at the dumpster behind the school."

"Do you think the impostor might strike a second year next?" Kotori asked, nervously clasping her hands. "If so, Honoka, Umi, and I could be next, right?"

"That's a possibility," the principal stated. "And in order to minimize the chances of that possibility happening, I ask all of you to be very careful with your phones. Don't lower your guard, and constantly check your surroundings."

"And what about Muse?" Honoka asked, getting the principal's attention. "

"Well, since both Maki and Eli's phones were recovered, and Nico's still resting, just keep doing what you've been doing for the moment," the principal answered. "However, as soon as another impersonation happens, I want all Muse activities to cease immediately until new advice."

The girls nodded in unison, and with all that said, the principal nodded as well and left the room, with Kotori promptly collapsing on her knees as soon as she left.

"Kotori!" Honoka exclaimed as she and Umi ran to the girl's side. "What's wrong?!"

"I just feel so overwhelmed!" the girl whimpered as Honoka and Umi helped her get up. "Barely a day ago, we were doing. And now, Nico's hospitalized, and we're all in the middle of some weird mystery."

"Yeah, it's like one of those black-and-white detective dramas," Rin remarked, scratching the back of her head as she thought about it. "Granted, they were a bit more cheesy compared to what's going on nyow."

"You watch detective shows, Rin?" Hanayo asked.

"No, but I did catch a glimpse of one when I was surfing the internet the other day, nya," Rin shook her head. "I got into it so quickly, I forgot what I was searching for."

"Okay, nice little story, Rin," Maki said, rolling her eyes. "However, we need to stay focused. Right now, we should keep going with our daily lives, while being very careful about our surroundings."

The girls nodded in agreement, and continued with their school day like normal.

 ** _Sometime later, at the schoolyard..._**

Honoka was getting ready to leave when she saw Nozomi approaching her. "Oh, hi Nozomi. Have you calmed down?"

"Yes, thanks to the principal and some of the Muses' help, I managed to calm down completely from my volatile anger from before," Nozomi answered, her smile turning into a frown soon after. "And that's actually why I came looking for you."

Honok blinked once and tilted her head. "Why?"

"I want to apologize for my outburst earlier," Nozomi said. "I should've tried to hold back my emotions a little better, but I just couldn't help but feel furious about it!"

"And I understand you, Nozomi," Honoka said. "I mean, if somebody impersonated one of my friends, and then hurt another one of my friends while impersonating that other friend, I would be furious too."

Honoka frowned. "It's just that, of all the people I expected to be furious about it, I didn't think it would be you."

"I bet you thought Maki would be the first to blow up about it, right? I don't blame you, I believed that too." Nozomi frowned and looked at the ground. "But, she seems so calm about it... her soulmate was injured by someone impersonating her, and yet I haven't seen her blowing up in rage since then..."

"Maybe she just keeps it to herself?" Honoka suggested. "After all, Maki's already pretty scary when she's angry. Can you imagine how much more terrifying she'd be if she was furious?"

Nozomi stood silent for a couple of minutes, but it wasn't long before the upper part of her face became blue and she started to lose her balance.

"Nozomi!" Honoka ran up to the girl and helped her stay up. "W-What's wrong?!"

"I thought about a furious Maki... and now I'm very glad she's being so calm," Nozomi took a deep breath. "But, I'm a little lightheaded now, could you help me go get something to drink?"

Honoka nodded and wrapped Nozomi's arm around her shoulder. "Sure."

Nozomi and Honoka exchanged smiles, and the latter helped the former get something to drink, and a place to calm down as well.

 ** _Then, at the Principal's office..._**

Kotori entered the room, only to find the sunset illuminating the room, which caught her eye as she closed the door and walked towards her mother's desk.

"Kotori, look where you're going!" the principal exclaimed moments before the girl hit the desk. "Look, I know the room looks pretty during sunset, but you need to stay focused. I need to ask you something."

"Oh, alright," Kotori sat down. "What is it?"

"Okay, I want you to answer honestly," the principal stated before she rested her chin on the back of her hands. "What exactly was the name of the... thing, that caused Nico to collapse?"

"Well, Umi, Maki, Nozomi, and Honoka were the ones who went to Nico's house, so they're the only ones who found out about it," Kotori answered. "They're the ones you have to ask-"

And then, Kotori got a disturbing idea. "You don't think _I'm_ the impersonator, do you?!"

"Of course not, I know you'd never do anything like that," the principal answered. "And even if I thought about the possibility, it doesn't make any sense whatsoever."

The principal clasped her hands. "The reason I'm asking you is because I want to do some research on what exactly Nico Yazawa was sent, to find out what she saw and why she collapsed because of it."

"Mom, that's a horrible idea! Not to mention it's way too risky too!" Kotori replied. "I mean, what if what Nico saw was so horrific, it would shock anybody who saw it too?!"

"That's precisely the reason why I need to investigate it, sweetie," the principal argued in return. "The more information we get about that thing, the greater the chance we'll find clues to whoever made it."

The principal turned her chair around, and faced the sunset. "And, most importantly, we'll know what we need to avoid in the future."

Kotori thought about it, and took a deep breath. "Okay, I got it. I'll try to ask them about it tomorrow, if possible."

The principal turned back to her daughter and smiled. "Thanks, sweetheart-"

Suddenly, Kotori hugged her Mom and pleaded, "But please, don't search more than you need to, Mom!"

The principal smiled with a concerned look and hugged her daughter back as she answered, with a reassuring tone:

"I won't, darling."

 ** _Finally, at the School Gates..._**

Eli finished checking something on her phone with a somber look. She hung up, saved her phone, and looked back at the school one more time before she turned around and started to leave...

"Eli, wait!"

The blonde girl turned around and saw Maki, of all girls, approaching her. "Maki?"

"I saw you about to leave and I wanted to know why," Maki said. "I thought you were going to walk home with Nozomi?"

"Well, apparently, she thought about how you'd act if you were furious and got a little lightheaded as a result," Eli explained, with Maki getting a concerned look in response. "Nozomi called me, told me about it, and asked me to walk home without her."

The redhead raised an eyebrow. "How are you sure it was Nozomi who called you and not the impostor?"

"Because Nozomi called me from Honoka's phone, and her voice," Eli answered with a sigh. "I guess since the impostor's been using our own phones to impersonate us, she wanted to use someone else's phone just to be safe."

"Yeah, that's something we should do, now that I think about it," Maki scratched her chin. "Anyway, since Nozomi's not walking with you, mind if I walk home with you instead?"

Eli blinked once and smiled. "No, I don't mind."

The girls promptly walked to the train station... a walk that mostly filled with silence, until Eli broke the ice:

"You know, it might be a bit obvious, but I don't think we've ever hung out like this, just you and me. I usually hang out with Nozomi, you usually hang out with... Nico... sorry for bringing that up-"

"No, you do bring up an interesting point: Most of Muse walk home in certain pairings, it seems," Maki replied. "Rin walks with Hanayo, Hanako walks with Umi, Kotori walks with her Mom-"

"Wait, I thought she did that in private?" Eli asked.

Maki threw an amused look at Eli. "So she really does walk home with her Mom?"

Eli covered her mouth and blushed as Maki let out a little chuckle. "Don't worry, I won't tell anybody."

"I promised Kotori I'd keep it secret!" Eli gently slapped herself. "That was a dirty trick, Maki!"

"Hey, I was just fooling around!" the redhead laughed. "Considering what happened, somebody needs bring the laughs, and I don't see Rin anywhere around here."

Eli's smile slowly turned into a frown. "Now that you mention it, was there any other reason you wanted to walk home with me?"

Maki remained silent for a while... and by that, she stayed silent until the girls were already at the train station, where she said:

"We're both victims of the impersonator's nonsense. I just... want to know how it went with you."

Eli lowered her head. "Well, Nozomi got the message, but I was with her at the time, so she quickly deduced it was the impersonator pulling another one of their tricks-"

"So, you were there when it happened," Maki smiled. "You were pretty lucky, you know?"

Eli smiled with sympathy. "You were lucky too! I mean, yeah, Nico collapsed while you weren't there, but you and the others brought her home and tried to help her recover before the ambulance arrived."

Eli put a hand on Maki's shoulder. "Don't beat yourself up for it. You're a good girl. And just you wait, before you know it, things are going to get better."

Maki smiled. "Thanks, Eli, I really needed that."

Eli smiled and nodded in return. "Well, I gotta get on the train. See you tomorrow!"

Eli ran up to the train and she and Maki waved goodbye to each other as it closed its doors and drove off, the wind blowing soon after. And as Maki's hair blew in the wind, she looked at the sky with a relieved smile.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello everybody, now we resume this "shocking" Love Live story, and trust me, there are quite a few shocks coming your way.**

 **I get the feeling this story might become a once-in-a-month update frequency, with everything else considered. Probably won't happen, but I thought it would be best if you knew.**

 **Anyway, let's get going with the story proper.**

* * *

The next day, at school, Muse were in the middle of training when Kotori glanced at Honoka, Umi, Maki, and Nozomi, in that order, and with a concerned look.

And it was this concerned looking that made her mess up and hit the ground.

"Kotori, are you okay?!" Honoka asked as she walked to the girl and helped her get up.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Kotori answered with a sheepish smile. "Sorry, it's just that... well..."

"Is something wrong, Kotori?" Eli asked as she and the rest of Muse walked to the girl. Rin and Hanayo included. "If there's anything on your mind, then you can tell us, and we'll help you."

"Well, it's not something you all can help me with," Kotori frowned. "Just Umi, Honoka, Maki, and Nozomi."

Rin raised an eyebrow. "Why, nya?"

Kotori tried to say something, but she stopped herself and took a deep breath before she turned to the quartet.

And next thing she knew, she was alone at the clubroom with the quartet, who were waiting for her to explain herself.

"Okay, so, you four were the only ones who took Nico back to her house," Kotori said, earning a nod from the girls. "And you were also the only ones who found out about the story that made her... well, collapse, right?"

Maki and Nozomi narrowed their eyes and nodded, while Umi and Honoka exchanged concerned looks.

"Alright, in that case, I need to ask you something," Kotori took a long, deep breath. "Do you know anything about the story? Like its name?"

"Maki Maki Macabre," Maki answered sternly, before she growled with a hostile tone, "Why do you ask?"

"C-Calm down, Maki!" Kotori replied, taking a couple steps back. "I-I'm just asking because my Mom wants to find out more about that story. See if there's any information as to who made it."

"So she's not planning to read it herself?" Honoka asked, and Kotori shook her head in response. "Well, that's a relief, I guess."

"What about you, Nozomi?" Kotori asked the blue-haired, motherly idol. "Are you feeling better?"

"You're talking about the outburst, right?" Nozomi took a deep breath. "Yeah, I've been inhaling and exhaling whenever I start thinking about what happened to Nico. Which has been fairly often."

"Well, it happened recently, so it's not going to go away anytime soon," Kotori turned to Eli. "How about Eli and Maki, though? How are they holding up?"

"Me, I'm doing fine, but the fact that I can't visit Nico at the hospital 'cause she might remember what she saw, and that her younger siblings still blame me for it... really upsets me," Maki folded her arms and leaned against the wall. "I mean... it just hurts to think that even Nico's family thinks I'm a bad guy now."

"I've been doing good too, but I've grown a bit hesitant when I get phone calls," Eli answered. "Whenever somebody calls me, I hesitate, and sometimes when I hear them answer, I just end the call and close my phone."

"So that's why you didn't answer me this morning," Umi remarked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, right, I did get a phone call from you!" Eli said. "Sorry about it, but yeah, my little paranoia made me hang up on you. What did you need?"

"I wanted to ask you who you thought was the most likely second year among Muse to be impersonated next," Umi bluntly answered. "And yes, I know such a topic can only cause stress, but I think it's something we need to discuss."

"W-What makes you think a second year could be the impostor's next target?" Kotori asked, twiddling her fingers nervously.

"Well, they already impersonated a first year, Maki, and a third year, Eli," Umi answered. "If they impersonate one of the two year members of Muse, then they'll have impersonated one Muse member from each year."

"Why's that important?" Honoka asked.

"Think about it, Honoka: The impersonater has not only impersonated, but also tried to ruin the reputation of the impersonated, or at least make them seem less trustworthy than usual," Umi folded her arms and sighed, "If they wanted, they could've impersonated one row of Muse's members, and ruin their reputation."

Nozomi scratched her chin. "So the fact that they are switching from one year to another is suspicious!"

"Okay, but do we have any hint or clue as to why they're doing this?" Maki asked, sternly folding her arms. "If we don't, then at best, it's a minor thing, and at worst, it's a red herring that leads us nowhere."

The girls sighed and rubbed their foreheads, while Kotori looked at them with confusion. Which was then followed by them looking at her.

"Oh, uh, that's all I wanted to know, thank you," Kotori stood up and slowly headed towards the door. "I'll tell my Mom about it, and if we find out anything, we'll let you know."

Kotori left the room and promptly ran to her mother's office.

"Poor girl," Eli said, shaking her head. "It's clear this whole "mystery" thing's scaring her."

"I can't blame her, this is so much different compared to what we're used to," Nozomi said. "I just hope she doesn't ask Rin for help on how to deal with it: Those mystery shows she watches can get rather creepy."

And then Maki's phone rang, and she checked the screen. "Speaking of Rin, she's calling me for some reason."

"Don't answer!" Eli shouted, backing away until she hit the wall. "It could be the impostor!"

Maki glanced back at her phone and slowly answered it. "Hello?"

"Hi, Maki, nya!" Rin answered from the other end. "Listen, something came up and Hnayo and I had to leave practice early, so to make up for it, could you help us make up for the time wasted tonight, nya?"

"Wait a minute, what are you talking about?" the redhead asked. "Why did you have to leave early-?"

"Thanks so much, nya! I knew Hanayo and I could count on you, nya!" Rin replied with an excited tone. "Let's meet at the warehouse nearby the school at night, okay, nya?"

Maki hung up the phone and took a deep breath. "Something's fishy."

"I agree: Rin calling us after we just told Kotori the name of the story's a bit too weirdly timed to be a coincidence," Nozomi nodded. "You should probably take a weapon with you just in case-"

"Nozomi!" Honoka and Umi gasped in shock.

"I know you probably didn't expect me to be the one to bring up the idea of bringing a weapon, but this is too suspicious to let our guard down," the motherly idol stated. "And if it turns out to be the impostor, then even better: She can fight back, and hopefully knock him out in the process."

"Yeah, you're right, Nozomi," Maki nodded in agreement. "I'll be sure to take something with me before I go to the warehouse."

"Oh, wait, you're actually going?" the motherly idol remarked. "I was just suggesting the weapon as an idea, I didn't think you were going to go."

"There's an equal chance that the impostor is setting up a trap, and a chance that Rin and Hanayo really had to leave practice and need to make up for it," Maki took a deep breath. "And I'll admit, asking me for help is a bit suspicious, so just in case, I'll be sure to bring a weapon. Something like a stun gun."

"Okay, but where are you going to find a stun gun?" Honoka inquired. "Actually, can you even own a stun gun without being 18 years old?"

As the girls continued discussing that, Eli scratched her chin and thought about Rin and Hanayo's phone call, still feeling there was something fishy about it...

 ** _Sometime Later..._**

Eli encountered Maki and stopped her on her tracks, saying:

"Maki, I'm asking you to reconsider!"

Maki raised an eyebrow. "About the warehouse training with Rin and Hanayo, right?"

"Or the impostor!" Eli sternly pointed out. "I mean think about it: They didn't explain why they had to leave, they made it clear they wanted to do it at nighttime, and they called right when we were talking about Rin's mystery shows! I'm sorry, but that just seems too suspicious to me!"

"And I think it's suspicious too," Maki lowered her head while looking concerned. "But in the chance Rin and Hanayo really do need my help, and the phone call wasn't a trap, then I have to be there for them."

"And what if the phone call really is a trap, Maki?! What will you do then?!" Eli asked as she grabbed the redhead's shoulders. "Why would you even risk it-?!"

Maki slapped Eli's arms away and exclaimed:

"Because I wasn't there for Nico!"

The blonde girl tilted her head and raised an eyebrow as Maki explained:

"Eli, please understand where I'm coming from: When Nico collapsed, I wasn't there to prevent it, or help her get back up right after she fell. I only managed to help her after Umi, Honoka, Nozomi, and I went to see what was going on."

The redhead clutched her chest and lowered her head.

"Ever since then, I've just felt so guilty about it. And to make matters worse, her younger sisters hate me for it! They think it's because of me that Nico collapsed, and that idea still haunts me!"

Maki turned to Eli, shedding tears. "Eli, please, tell me you understand."

The girl frowned, then lowered her eyelids and smiled. "I do, Maki. I understand."

"Thanks, Eli," Maki smiled and took a deep breath of relief. "Now, if you excuse me, I have to go Nico a phone call. I wanna see how she's holding up."

With her feelings spoken, Maki continued walking, and Eli watched her with a worried look before she left.

Maki soon found a phone, and reached for her pocket to take out a piece of paper, which had a phone number written on it.

"I'm so lucky Nozomi asked for the hospital's phone number before she left," Maki said as she dialed the number.

And a couple seconds and rings later, Nico answered, "Hello?"

"Hi, Nico, it's me, Maki," the redhead greeted. "I hope you don't mind me calling you while you're still recovering."

"Hey, as long as it's just your voice, I have no problem with it," Nico answered with a smile. "Besides, I always thought your voice was the most tolerable thing about you."

"Oh yeah?" Maki smiled a little. "You know, if you were right here, I'd be scolding you so hard right now.".

"Oh really? What's stopping you?" Nico asked with a smug smile. "It's my condition, isn't it? Since when has Maki Nishikino refrained from ? Who are you, and what did you do to my Maki?!"

Maki smiled and held back her laughter. "Your Maki?!"

"Yeah!" Nico answered with a smug tone.

"You better watch what you say, miss!" Maki replied, trying harder to hold back her laughter. "I belong to nobody!"

The girls laughed for a moment before Nico slowed down and took several deep breaths. "Dang it, I shouldn't be laughing so hard, I'm still recovering for crying out loud."

"Yeah, you should stay calm," Maki replied. "Especially if it helps you recover faster, and gets you coming back here soon."

With that said, Nico remained quiet for a moment, until she spoke:

"Speaking of that... the longer I stay inside this cold, quiet, hospital room... the more I miss you guys... Honoka's optimism, Hanayo's obssession with rice, Rin's cat-like nature, Umi's terrible poker face, even Nozomi's bad habit of squeezing my breasts! I miss all of that..."

"And we miss you too, Nico," Maki replied. "And when you're finally out of the hospital, we'll be here, ready to welcome you with open arms."

Nico's smile grew wider. "Thanks, Maki. You don't know how much that cheers me up."

"I'm glad," Maki sighed. "Well, that was all I wanted to do, I'm happy you're feeling good. I'll let you rest now."

Nico smiled. "Got it, thanks."

Maki hung up, and took a deep breath as she closed the phone and walked back home, sporting a wide, relieved smile.

 ** _Meanwhile, at the Principal's Office..._**

Principal Minami was checking something on her computer when Kotori came in and asked, "Did you ask me to come here, Mom?"

"Yes, sweetie," the principal answered, focusing on her computer. "Remember the story that made Mrs. Yazawa collapse? I'm researching it right now and-"

Kotori immediately backed away until she hit the wall and hid behind the bookshelf for safety.

"Don't worry, sweetie, I'm not seeing the story itself, I'm just checking its statistics," the principal stated. "And in doing so, I found out something very interesting..."

With her curiosity now mixing with her fear, Kotori slowly came out of hiding. "What did you find?"

"Maki Maki Macabre was posted a year ago, the very same day that the idol group Muse was born," the principal said. "But, assuming I'm onto something, Nico Yazawa had a reputation before Muse were even a thing, right?"

"Well, I think so," Kotori answered, scratching the side of her head. "I mean, she does give off that vibe."

"Hmm, I see..." the principal thought about it, then asked her daughter, "Could you tell Mrs. Tojo to come here, Kotori?"

"No need for that."

Nozomi barged into the room, startling Kotori into jumping to her Mother's arms as she calmly said, "Mrs. Tojo, was barging into my office so loudly necessary?"

"No, and I'm sorry about that," Nozomi said as she walked towards the Mother-Daughter duo. "I've been having trouble controlling my emotions regarding that cursed story lately."

"I understand, Mrs. Tojo," the principal gently put her daughter down. "Now, please sit down, there's something we need to discuss with you."

Nozomi looked at Kotori, who shrugged with a frown, and the motherly idol promptly sat down and crossed her leg. "So, what is it?"

"The story that Mrs. Yazawa read was posted the same day Muse was formed," the principal stated. "It says right here on its statistics."

"What?!" Nozomi exclaimed.

The blue-haired girl got up and ran to the principal's side, giving her a clear look at the story's stats, proving that yes, it was posted on that fateful day.

"What are the freaking chances?" Nozomi asked as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "So, what do you think this means, principal?"

"Whoever sent a link to the story, and whoever made the story, both had one thing in common," the principal narrowed her eyes. "Their intention, was to hurt Nico Yazawa, one way or another."

"So the impostor's also a Nico hater?" Nozomi asked. "I guess that would explain why Nico was the first victim, but why would they target Eli next?"

The principal's eyes widened. "Mrs. Tojo, how do you know that?"

"I got a message from the impostor impersonating Eli, while Eli herself was with me, panicking about how she couldn't find her phone," the young woman folded her arms. "And honestly? I wasn't surprised when I got the message: After what happened to Nico, it was easy to connect the dots."

The principal hummed. "Did the message give you a link to some other story?"

Nozomi narrowed her eyes. "Don't tell me you want to investigate that story too?"

"It's what I need to do in order to get as much information as possible," the principal answered. "Although, if you want something in exchange for your cooperation, then tell me your prize."

Remembering Maki's need for a weapon, the girl smiled.

 ** _Later that night..._**

Nozomi's request paid off, as while Maki walked towards the warehouse for Rin and Hanayo's lessons, Maki held a stun gun, which she looked at as she walked.

"Okay, this stun gun should be enough to knock out the impostor," Maki said to herself as she saved the gun in her pocket. "And if I end up knocking out Rin and Hanayo by mistake..."

The redhead remained silent, then winced. "I really hope that doesn't happen."

Maki shook off the thought and continued walking to the warehouse, making sure to keep her arms close to the stun gun. Then she walked inside and took out the stun gun...

Only to find nobody inside. Not even Rin and Hanayo.

"Alright, Rin, Hanayo, I'm here!" Maki exclaimed, taking a look at her surroundings as she put the gun back in her pocket. "What did you need my help with?!"

The closest thing Maki got to a response was the creepy ambiance growing a little louder, and also a sharp noise that sounded like something hitting the ground.

"I should better call Rin and ask her if I got here too early or too late," Maki said as she took out her phone and dialed Rin's number. "I just hope they don't think I'm the impostor or something."

 ** _On the other end, at Rin's house..._**

Rin and Hanayo were studying together when Rin's phone rang, and she saw that it was Maki calling her.

"It's Maki, nya," Rin said, getting Hanayo's attention. "Should I answer or nyah?"

"It could be the impostor, so give it to me," Hanayo extended her hand forward. "Let's throw her... him... them, on a loop."

Rin nodded, handed Hanayo the phone, and she answered, "Hello?"

"Oh hi, Hanayo!" Maki answered from the other end. "I did get a feeling Rin wouldn't answer me directly."

Hanayo took a deep breath, pulled the phone away, and whispered "It is Maki" to the cat-loving Rin before she moved the phone closer again. "So, what do you need?"

 ** _Maki's side..._**

"Listen, I'm at the warehouse for the after-class idol training I promised to do with you," the redhead said sternly. "Did I come here a bit early, or did you got tired of waiting and left?"

Hanayo and Rin exchanged concerned looks as Hanayo answered, "M-Maki, we didn't go to practice today."

Maki felt a shiver run down her spine. "Wait, what?"

"Yeah, we didn't even go to school today," Hanayo added. "Rin got an allergic reaction to a stray cat, again, and I skipped class to take care of her."

Just as the redhead realized what this meant, with a look that screamed "I knew something was fishy!" all over her face, she was hit in the back of the head with a baseball bat, causing her to drop on the ground and whine in pain, while her phone landed close to her, close enough for Hanayo and Rin to hear her cries of pain.

 ** _Hanayo and Rin's side..._**

"Maki! What happened?!" Hanayo exclaimed.

Rin leaned closer to the phone. "Is somebody else there with you, nya?!"

After a few more cries of pain, somebody picked up the phone and answered:

"It's alright, Rin, Maki was walking when you called her and she fell down the stairs. I'll be sure to send her to the nurse's office as soon as I can."

Hanayo and Rin exchanged looks, and Rin took her phone and asked, "Who are you?"

The voice chuckled. "Who am I? Oh, Rin..."

 ** _The other side..._**

The figure grabbing the phone turned out to be a nearly identical copy of Hanayo, only her eyes were closed for some reason.

"Don't tell me you don't recognize your best friend Hanayo's voice!"

"Oh no, I do recognize it," Rin answered. "It's just that..."

A short pause later, Hanayo answered, "I'm already here."

The copy's eyes opened wide, revealing their purple color as the impostor looked shocked... for all of a second before she smiled and narrowed her eyes.

"Well, isn't this an interesting development?"

"So you're the one who's been impersonating Muse members, huh?!" Hanayo asked sternly. "What are you planning to do to our friend?!"

"Hmm, let's just say, by the time we're done with her, she really will need to go to the nurse's office," Not-Hanayo answered with a sly tone. "Come to the warehouse if you want to avoid that."

With that said, Not-Hanayo hung up and turned around to see an impostor of Rin, sporting green eyes, and carrying the heavily breathing Maki towards a chair.

"What... who are you...?" Maki weakly asked as she was put on the chair. "What do you... think you're... doing...!?"

"Geez, aren't we impatient, nya?" Not-Rin asked as she tied Maki's wrists and legs. "Wait a little bit more, and we'll give you a hint or two, okay?"

Not-Rin grabbed Maki's chin and forced Maki to look at her as she told Not-Hanayo, "Prepare the camera, Chika."

"I'm on it, Dia," Not-Hanayo said as she took out and turned on the camera on her phone. "And, say heartbreak!"

Not-Rin smirked and kissed Maki right on the lips, with Maki reacting with justifiable shock just as Not-Hanayo took a picture of the moment. After a couple seconds, Not-Rin released Maki and went to check the image with Not-Hanayo as the redhead, quite reasonably, spat it out.

"That's a good picture right there," Not-Rin remarked. "I can't wait to see how that Yazawa girl's going to react when she sees her girlfriend kissing someone other than her!"

Maki took several deep breaths and glared at the impostors. "Listen, I don't know what you're planning, but I know Nico. She's not going to be fooled by that picture!"

"Oh, we'll manage, don't you worry," Not-Hanayo chuckled. "Stealing your and the blonde girl's phone was a piece of cake, making it look like you were cheating your girlfriend with one of your friends shouldn't be any harder."

"And besides, you're not going anywhere, Nishikino," Not-Rin narrowed her eyes. "We're going to have a little fun with you, and trust us."

Not-Hanayo cracked her knuckles as Not-Rin leaned closer to Maki and growled:

"When we're done with you, you'll get a chance to sleep in the same room as your little girlfriend."


	5. Chapter 5

**And here we are at the next chapter! Time for Muse to go to the rescue!**

 **Before we begin, I'd like to say that I don't have a laptop to write on, so, it'll take me a while to write this story's chapters. So, that idea about this being monthly? That may happen after all.**

 **But enough bad news! To the story!**

* * *

Back where we left off, Hanayo and Rin frantically called the rest of Muse, besides Nico, to inform them about Maki's current situation:

"Maki's in danger, nya!" Rin exclaimed.

"She got tricked by some people impersonating me and Rin!" Hanayo added.

"We'll be there as soon as possible, but I got a question," Honoka said, before giving the question. "Were you at practice this morning?"

"No, we didn't go to school at all, nya!" Rin answered. "The Rin and Hanayo you saw must've been the impostors!"

"I knew something was fishy about this!" Eli remarked before she pulled her hair. "Of all the times I had to be right, why did it have to be this time?!"

"There's no point in whining about it, Eli!" Nozomi stated. "Right now, we need to get to the warehouse and get Maki out!"

The rest of Muse agreed, and after a quick change and travel, they arrived at some bushes near the warehouse.

"There's the warehouse!" Eli exclaimed. "That's where Maki said she was going!"

"What's a warehouse doing here anyway?" Honoka asked.

"Well, duh, where else is the school supposed to store their stuff?" Umi answered. "Regardless, how do we get in without alerting the impostors?"

Nozomi hummed. "Honoka, you, Umi, and Eli enter the front, Rin, Hanayo, and I will wait on the back and make sure the impostors don't run away. Does that sound good?"

The rest of Muse nodded, with Rin even taking out a pair of baseball bats for her and Hanayo to use.

"Alright then," Nozomi turned back to the warehouse and narrowed her eyes. "Let's do this!"

 ** _Inside the Warehouse..._**

Not-Rin stunned Maki with her own stun gun before Not-Hanayo struck her with a baseball bat, with a crunch being heard as Maki let out another ear-piercing scream.

"Alright, I think we've reached the point where if we go any further, we might actually kill her," Not-Rin stated as she threw the stun gun away. "

"I don't know," Not-Hanayo smirked and prepared to hit Maki yet again. "I think I could go for a few more rounds-"

Without warning, Maki violently puked, causing both impostors to back away in disgust. And when she finished, she took several deep breaths, trying to stay conscious for just a little bit longer... before she gave in and fell unconscious.

Not-Rin slowly walked closer to Maki's chest, and once she was close enough, she was relieved when she heard her heartbeat.

"Don't worry, she's just unconscious," Not-Rin backed away and returned to Not-Hanayo. "However, I'm pretty sure that's the point where we leave her be."

And then they heard somebody knock on the door and shout:

"Maki! Are you there?!"

"Huh, looks like her friends came to the rescue her," Not-Hanayo remarked, slightly bemused at how blatant the girls made their presence known. "Too bad they arrived just a little too late."

"Yeah, it's almost sad in a way," Not-Rin looked at the beaten Maki. "The only thing they're going to find inside here is their bruised friend. At least we made sure she'll spend some quality time with her girlfriend."

Not-Hanayo shrugged. "And if her current state doesn't convince them, we can always come back and beat her up some more. Maybe even snap some of her bones?"

Not-Rin winced and took a step back. "Yeah, no."

"Yeah, now that I think about it, that's a bit too far," Not-Hanayo folded her arms. "But you get the idea, right?"

Not-Rin nodded and promptly left the warehouse through a trap door. What was a trap door doing inside a warehouse was a question they didn't bother asking, they had to leave right then and there.

So they left and arrived right outside the warehouse...

"Going anywhere, sweethearts?"

The impostors felt a shill go down their spine as they looked up, and saw Nozomi smiling sternly at them as the real Rin and Hanayo slammed the impostors with the baseball bats, knocking them out instantly.

 ** _Nishikino Household, Maki's Bedroom..._**

Maki's consciousness slowly returned as she opened her eyes to a foggy vision of someone in front of her, while a voice said:

"Maki? Can you hear me?"

The redhead's vision slowly cleared up, and she saw that the person in front of her was none other than a worried Honoka, who asked:

"Can you hear me, Maki?!"

"Yes, I can hear you just fine," Maki replied. "But could you lower your voice a bit? You're going to give me a headache."

Honoka backed away. "Oh, sorry, Maki."

With the light annoying her eyes, Maki tried to move her arm to block it, but an intense pain stopped her from doing so. And once she looked down, she saw why: Her arm was put in a cast.

"Oh thank goodness, you woke up!"

Maki and Honoka turned around and saw Maki's Mom, as well as Umi, Rin, and Hanayo, entering the room.

"Did you call the ambulance?" Honoka asked.

"Yeah, they'll be here in around ten minutes," Umi answered as she walked to Honoka's side. "Until then, we should keep Maki

Using her free arm, Maki slowly stood up, causing her mother to rush past the duo and say, "Sweetie, don't do that! You have to rest as much as possible!"

"That doesn't mean I can just stay here and ignore my needs," Maki answered as her stomach growled. "My stomach feels really empty; I need something to eat."

"I'll go get you something!" Honoka stated.

"It's probably empty because you... kinda threw up," Umi revealed as Honoka and Maki's mother "When we found you, not only, but there was a large puddle of vomit in front of you."

"It was a very gross sight, nya," Rin added with a nod of agreement.

"The impostors!" Maki exclaimed, suddenly remembering the pair. "Did they get away?!"

"They would've, if Hanayo, Nozomi, and I had done nothing to stop them, nya," Rin proudly answered. "As soon as they got out, Hanayo and I knocked them out with a single strike, nya!"

"Oh, that's... good to know, I guess," Maki sighed. "But where are they now?"

"Nozomi and the girls brought them to the clubroom so they could ask them a couple question, whenever they woke up," Hanayo explained. "Eli was against the idea at first, but Nozomi managed to convince her."

"Hmm... now that you mention it, I'm kinda sad that Eli," Maki looked elsewhere. "I wanted to apologize for not heeding her advice when I had the chance. She thought something was fishy, and I still decided to go through with it."

"Hey, Eli explained to us what you told her, and while it doesn't really change what happened, we do understand why you did what you did," Umi answered. "And besides, I'm pretty sure the girls are going to do just fine keeping an eye on the impostors."

 ** _Meanwhile, at the school..._**

The principal checked the Rin story on her laptop, trying to find some information about it, when Kotori barged into the room and exclaimed:

"Mom! The girls captured some of the impostors!"

Noticing the plural, the principal's eyes widened before she got off her office, and barged into the idols' clubroom, where Not-Rin and Not-Hanayo were tied up in chairs. They were currently being watched by Nozomi and Eli, their arms folded and looking sternly at the duo.

"So, there really is more than one impostor?" the principal asked as she walked to the girls, getting their attention. "That's going to make things a bit more difficult, then..."

"Oh, hi principal Minami, we didn't hear you come in," Nozomi greeted as she turned to face the woman. "Anyway, yeah, these are the impostors that tricked Maki into going to the warehouse, thinking Rin and Hanayo needed help."

"So that's the reason you asked me to give a stun gun to Ms. Nishikino..." the woman took a closer look at the copycats. "I don't see any burn marks on their persons, however."

"Yeah, but Maki had some burns, so we think the impostors somehow managed to steal the stun gun from her, and used it on her," Eli answered before she took out the stun gun from her pocket. "Anyway, here it is. Please make sure it's nowhere near their grasp."

"Alright, I'll be sure to do that," Principal Minami saved the weapon on her purse as she asked, "Anyway, what about Mrs. Nishikino?"

"Well, besides the burns, she was also really badly bruised, and one of her arms was broken," Eli answered.

"So, not only are you two guilty of impersonation, but also guilty of assault and battery," the principal harshly said as she leaned closer to the smug impostors. "

"Right, send a pair of innocent girls to jail, instead of the one who actually ordered them to do the deed," Not-Hanayo smugly scoffed. "I bet that's not going to hurt Muse's reputation at all!"

"Do you have any proof that we did anything wrong?" Not-Rin asked.

"Well, the fact you look like us should be proof enough!"

Everybody turned towards the door and saw Rin kick the door open, then strike a pose as Hanayo entered the room soon after, saying "Hi everybody" in a casual tone.

"Rin? Hanayo?" Kotori asked with surprise. "I thought you were going to stay at Maki's house to watch over her?"

"My "Rin senses" told me our impostors were being interrogated, so we went here as soon as we could to confront them about it, nya!" Rin chirped as she strolled to the impostors' side. "And besides, Maki asked us to go confront the impostors for her, nya."

"Right, by "confront," do you mean cry about how badly we hurt her?" Not-Hanayo asked. "Being the Yazawa hag's girlfriend, I wouldn't be surprised if she adopted her mannerisms."

"Okay, so you're assaulters, impersonators, and sorry for the language, all-around douchebags," Hanayo said. "Do we need any more proof to get them convicted?"

"Well, like they said, if we don't provide proof of what they did to the jury, then we can't get them convicted," Principal Minami scratched her chin. "However, I'm pretty sure the warehouse has a camera installed somewhere. I can check it's footage and-"

"Find absolutely nothing," Not-Rin smugly interjected. "We took care of the camera before we decided to break your little idol."

The principal clenched her fist, but quickly managed to calm down and ask, "Just out of curiosity, what are your names?"

Not-Hanayo raised an eyebrow. "What makes you think we're going to tell you?"

"Why wouldn't you? After all, you've already pretty much foiled everything we could do to get you convicted, so there's no danger in you revealing your names, right?" the principal argued. "Or, perhaps, is there a part of your plan that you didn't take into account, forcing you to keep your identities secret?"

The impostors exchanged smug looks, and proudly answered, Not-Rin and Not-Hanayo respectively:

"I'm Dia Kurosakawa."

"And I'm Chika Takami."

"Ha! That's impossible, nya!" Rin stated, pointing at her impostor. "Those characters aren't even a thing in this timeline, nya!"

"Rin, what are you talking about?" Hanayo inquired.

"One of those mystery shows I watched once had one of the detectives break the fourth wall by saying the character the impostor was impersonating hadn't yet appeared by then, nya," Rin explained, taking a deep breath before she continued, "So, seeing my chance, I did the same thing! I think, nya!"

"Whether those characters have appeared yet or not, it doesn't matter," Nozomi stated. "What matters is whether those people are real, or if they're made up."

"Well, if you're so unsure about our identities, why don't you search about them on the internet?" Not-Hanayo suggested. "We don't like to brag, but we're rather famous."

"You know what? Maybe we'll do that," Nozomi said as she walked towards the impostors. "And if you turn out to be the "minor" version of famous rather than actually famous..."

Nozomi flashed a malicious grin as she said, "You will have to pray for your very lives."

"Since when has Nozomi been so scary, nya?" Rin asked while hugging Hanayo.

"I don't know," Hanayo answered as she tightened the hug. "But I don't think I like it..."

"Sorry, I kinda did that without thinking, it won't happen again," Nozomi said. "Anyhow, my point still stands: What matters is whether the people these... rip-offs claim to be, are real or not."

"I'll investigate the names right away," Principal Minami stated. "Until I find anything about them, however, don't let them get away. And don't take your eyes off them for anything."

"Oh trust me, I'm not going to take my eyes off of these scumbags," Nozomi stated. "You got nothing to worry about, Principal Minami!"

"On the contrary, Mrs. Tojo, your current state is something that I'm pretty sure disturbs everybody present," the principal stated. "Now, I don't have much time so I can't explain myself thoroughly, but simply put: It seems you're revealing a... unsettling side of yourself."

With that said, the principal left the room and all eyes fell on Nozomi, who tilted her head with a confused look.

 ** _Meanwhile, at the Nishikino Household..._**

Honoka and Umi sat at the table and watched some of Muse's previous performances on a laptop. They were putting a bit of an emphasis on Nico, as well, who they watched intently across the performances.

"Hey, how about this one over here?" Honoka asked as she pointed the screen. "It was one of their first performances together, right?"

"I don't think they were on good terms when they did this, though," Umi frowned. "If we're going to show her one of Nico's previous performances, it has to be at a time when they were on good terms. Otherwise, we're only going to upset her."

"What are you doing, girls?"

The duo turned around and saw the one who asked that was Maki's Mom.

"Oh, we're just looking for a previous Muse performance that involved Nico, to show it to Maki," Honoka explained. "She seemed rather down, and since everything related to Nico seems to cheer her up, we're going to remind her of one of her previous performances."

"It cheers her up?" Maki's Mom asked with slight surprise. "I always thought it annoyed or exasperated her instead."

"No, she likes it, she just has her own special way of showing it," Umi answered. "Anyway, we'll be finished soon, Mrs. Nishikino, don't worry about us."

The woman nodded and continued to go on with her business, allowing the girls to continue searching for the right performance to show Maki.

"Oh, how about..." Honoka clicked another performance. "This one?"

Umi saw the performance, and as she did, she smiled wide as she nodded and said:

"Yeah, this one's perfect."

 ** _Sometime later, back at the Principal's office..._**

The principal finished printing some images when Kotori, Rin, and Hanayo entered the office and walked towards her.

"Mom, have you managed to find anything about impostors' "true" identities?" Kotori inquired. "I know you just started looking for them, but the longer we don't have an answer, the more I feel like something bad's going to happen."

The woman flipped her chair around and handed the girls a pair of images as she answered:

"Yup, Dia Kurosakawa and Chika Takami are real people. Although, according to their profiles, they're younger than both Rin and Hanayo. Not only in age, but in looks."

Kotori raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean, Mom?"

"Wow, she really does look much younger than me, nya!" Rin remarked with surprise. "But wait, if those girls are that young-"

"Then there's no way the impostors could be them!" Hanayo chirped, only for her excitement to turn into worry. "So wait, are those girls impersonating that Dia and Chika while also impersonating me and Rin?"

"Impostorception, nya!" Rin chirped.

"Whatever this is, it's something we need to check right away," the principal stated "Let's go back to the room and see what the impostors have to say about these pictures."

The girls nodded, and they immediately bolted right back to the clubroom, where the impostors were having a stare fight with Eli and Nozomi.

"Uh, what's going on?" Kotori asked.

"The impostors got on our nerves, and we decided to test their resolves," Eli answered. "They seem to be withstanding Nozomi's glare just fine."

The principal promptly separated the quartet and showed the pictures of Dia and Chika to the impostors as she said:

"Here's what we found when we searched the names you provided to us. But these are clearly too young, so how can you be Dia Kurosakawa and Chika Takami, if the age doesn't match?"

However, the impostors didn't respond: They stared at the pictures for a couple seconds before they tilted their heads, then suddenly shook them and put up a worried look.

"Wait... if that's Dia Kurosakawa..." Not-Rin spoke. "And that's Chika Takami... then... it's not us..."

"That's obvious!" Nozomi snapped. "But who are you? And don't you dare say you're Rin and Hanayo!"

"No, that's not who we are either..." Not-Rin answered, looking at the ground before she turned to Not-Hanayo. "Who are you?"

"I don't know..." Not-Hanayo looked around with slight panic. "Who am I?"

With confused fear overtaken their tone, the impostors turned to the girls and asked:

"Who are we?"

"Oh please, you've got to be kidding me!" Nozomi pinched the bridge of her nose. "You're tied up, got nowhere to run, and you're still playing dirty tricks like these on us!?"

"Mrs. Tojo, calm down."

The blue-haired idol turned around to see the principal walk past her, and towards the impostors, who shivered as the woman got closer and took a closer look at both of them.

"No disrespect to you or your authority, Mrs. Minami," Nozomi said, folding her arms. "But these impostors dragged one of our own into a trap and beat her up pretty badly! You can't expect us to stay calm while talking to them!"

"Yeah, I have to agree with Nozomi on this one," Eli said as she nodded in agreement. "We finally found some of the impostors who gave us so much fear and stress lately, staying calm doesn't sound like an option-"

"I get what you mean, Mrs. Ayase," the principal interjected. "But let me and Kotori handle this for now."

"Wha-me?!" Kotori asked. "You want me to get close to those two?!"

"Sweetie, you have a knack for seeing beyond the windows to the soul that are the eyes of a person," the principal explained. "And I get the feeling that once you go past that window, you may find a clue on what's going on."

Seeing what her mother was trying to say, Kotori nodded, and the mother-daughter pair walked to the impostors and checked their eyes closely, with the rest of the girls in suspense on what would happen next.

What came next was a moment of silence as the Minamis looked at the impostors eyes thoroughly, slowly but surely sending chills down their spine. Genuine chills, in fact.

"L-Look, whatever's going on, w-w-we're sorry, okay?" Not-Rin said. "W-We just came to our sense a moment ago!"

"Y-Yeah, we don't even know where we are!" Not-Hanayo added. "So please, s-stop looking at us... please..."

Seeing genuine confusion and horror on the impostors' faces, the principal came to a conclusion:

"They honestly don't know who they are."


	6. Chapter 6

**This is most likely going to be the last chapter for January. Don't ask me why, I just feel like this is a good place to take a break so I can finish the upcoming next few chapters as well, to an extent anyway.**

 **Anyhow, last chapter, we discovered the impostors don't actually know their real identities. How will Muse deal with this revelation?**

 **Let's find out... now!**

* * *

Back where we left off, the present members of Muse-and the principal-were caught off-guard by what Kotori and the principal had recently discovered: Not only were the impostors not who they said they were, neither Rin and Hanayo or Dia and Chika, but they legitimately had no idea of who they were.

Something that naturally frustrated the girls, especially Kotori.

"So, now we found out the impostors don't know who they are, and seem to be in a state of lost identity? I thought bringing them here and confirming they were fakes would be the end of all of this!"

"Well, of course this is far from done, nya!" Rin remarked. "This is the part of the mystery where we get a clue that something much bigger is happening!"

"And here I was thinking we could relax once we had dealt with the impostors," Nozomi said as she rubbed her forehead. "Anyway, Kotori, Principal Minami, you said these girls don't know who they are: Did you find anything else?"

"Nothing significant, no, but for now, let's focus on what we do know," the principal folded her arms. "One way or another, these girls lost their memories of who they are, and were then given the idea to impersonate the girls known as Dia Kurosakawa and Chika Takami, then impersonate Rin and Hanayo."

"And like I said before," Rin scratched her chin and her eyes turned into stars. "Impostorception, nya!"

"Well, what are we supposed to do now?" Hanayo asked. "We can't just keep the girls trapped in here, people are going to think we kidnapped them or something worse, and that'll ruin Muse's reputation!"

"But we can't really let them go, either," Eli said. "There's no way to tell how easy it'll be for them to get right back into their agressively violent selves. Not to mention-"

"Wait, their "agressively violent" selves?!" Not-Rin exclaimed. "What the heck did we do?!"

"Well, how do I say this without saying anything explicit?" Hanayo pondered out loud as she tried her hardest to avoid eye contact with the impostors.

"You two tricked one of our friends into going into a warehouse, where you beat her up so badly, you even broke one of her arms," Nozomi sternly explained while giving the impostors a disapproving look. "And that's just what you did on the surface, I can tell you the other, more subtle things you did to her if you want."

"Good lord, no, we get it!" Not-Hanayo answered. "B-But, it's so hard to believe we'd do something like that. I'd never do it if I had the choice!"

"Neither would I!" Not-Rin added.

"So, you weren't exactly conscious when you did all those things to Mrs. Nishikino?" the principal asked. "What's the last thing you remember?"

The fakers exchanged looks, then looked at the ceiling as they tried to remember, first Not-Hanayo:

"I was watching one of Muse's performances live last night, and I went to sleep shortly after I finished watching it."

Then Not-Rin:

"I was taking my dog out for a walk-"

"You have a dog and not a cat!?" Rin suddenly snapped. "And you dare be my impostor, nya?!"

"Hey, I wasn't the one who decided to impersonate you!" Not-Rin replied with a puty face. "And besides, some people just prefer dogs over cats, ever thought about that?"

"Now that I think about it, Rin," Honoya said, getting the cat-like girl's attention. "Aren't you allergic to cats, despite the fact you love them?"

The girl flinched as she realized what her best friend said, and she twiddled her fingers and looked elsewhere as she said, "Y-You got a point there, nya."

"Whatever, we're getting off-topic!" the principal stated. "What else do you remember, Not-Mrs. Hoshizora?"

"Well, once I finished walking the dog, I got back home, went to sleep... and then, I don't think I ever woke up."

Kotori raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean that me going to sleep is literally the last thing I remember before I wound up here," Not-Rin answered. "I can't remember anything else."

"Me neither," Not-Hanayo added.

"So, the last thing they remember is them going to bed," Eli scratched her chin. "Perhaps they were kidnapped while they were fast asleep?"

"Then they'd have to be pretty heavy sleepers if they were kidnapped and they didn't notice," Nozomi stated. "I mean sure, the kidnappers could've been careful, but I just can't see somebody sleeping through their own kidnapping."

"I guess she has a point there..." Not-Hanayo remarked, with Not-Rin somberly nodding in agreement. "Still, we're being honest with you, we don't remember anything else!"

"And for now, we'll believe you, but that doesn't mean you're not under suspicion anymore," the principal stated. "Anyway, while we try to figure out more about the current situation, we can't let you stay here."

"So, you're going to untie us?!" Not-Rin chirped.

"But under one condition!" the principal snapped at the duo, sending chills down their spines. "What's that condition, however, I haven't quite figured out yet."

"How about we make them take care of Maki until she's fully recovered?" Kotori suggested.

"Force the ones who sent Maki to the hospital to help her recover?" Nozomi repeated with a tone of disbelief. "I'm sorry, but as cathartic as that would be, I don't feel comfortable at all with the idea that these two-"

Nozomi paused and took a look around, with the concerned looks everybody were giving her prompting her to say:

"Girls, stay anywhere near Maki after what they did to her, willingly or not."

"Me neither, especially with the idea that they could relapse and put Maki through that pain all over again," Eli added. "And besides, isn't she heading for the hospital as we speak?"

"Oh right, I think it's already been over 20 minutes since we arrived here!" Rin remarked. "I wonder how she's doing, nya?"

 ** _Speaking of Maki..._**

The girl sat on a bed in a hospital room, where she looked around the room as a doctor entered the room with a clipboard in hand.

"Alright, Mrs. Nishikino, we've finished analyzing the results of the tests," the doctor said as she checked the clipboard. "Besides your broken arm, you also have several stun gun burns all over your body, but as we checked to see if the stun gun struck any important organs, we discovered something interesting."

"W-What is it?" Maki asked.

"Well, it seems that, going by the stun gun injury locations, no major organs were hit, but what was struck was a serious of nerve points," the doctor explained, sending a chill down Maki's spine. "Indeed, it seems that whoever hit you with the stun gun, was trying to paralyze you."

"What? That can't be true!" Maki stated with a tone of disbelief. "It definitely felt like they were trying to kill me; An odd pattern for the injuries shouldn't be enough proof the were trying to paralyze me!"

"Calm down, Mrs. Nishikino, we're not saying that that was definitely your assaulter's plan," the doctor clarified. "Rather, we're theorizing that that's the most logical route your assaulters were trying to take."

" _Okay, so, assuming that's true, then they got Nico hospitalized, and were trying to take me out of commission as well,_ " Maki thought as used her good arm to scratch her chin. " _Going by that, whoever those impostors are, they're probably trying to take Muse out of commission for whatever reason._ "

"Anyhow, about your broken arm," the doctor spoke, getting the redhead's attention. "We've deduced that the bare minimum time it'll take for it to heal will be six weeks, provided no further damage is done to it during this time."

Maki nodded. "I understand, doctor."

"Well, alright then," the doctor smiled. "Rest here for a while, and then after some more tests, we'll let you if you have to stay here or go home-"

"Wait, before you go," Maki blurted. "Could I pay someone a visit?"

The doctor raised an eyebrow. "Uh, who, exactly?"

The redhead smiled, and a short while later, she was taken to Nico's room, surprising the girl.

"Maki!" Nico exclaimed, with a mixed sense of joy and disbelief. "W-W-What are you doing here?!"

"Well, it's a long story," Maki smiled weakly as she got on the bed. "Do you have time to hear it?"

Nico's frown turned into a smile, and she nodded with a concerned look, which prompted Maki to start her explanation:

"I just finished walking with Eli to the train station..."

 ** _Meanwhile, at Honoka's House..._**

The girl and Umi were being told the story of the impostors by Rin, Hanayo, and Kotori, the last one looking rather concerned.

"So, let me get this straight: The impostors not only tried to say they were other people, but in the end you found out they don't even know their real identities anymore?" Honoka recapped. "How does that work? Did they impersonate Rin and Hanayo, or those Chika and Dia girls so much, that they eventually forgot their real identities?"

"I highly doubt it: After all, it's only been over a year since Muse was formed, and I don't think that's enough time for someone to completely forget their previous identity," Umi said, shaking her head. "Even in the unlikely case that a single year would be enough for them to forget their real identities, how could somebody impersonate any of us and not get on the news, or heck, not be noticed until now?"

"Maybe they were hiding until these last few days?" Kotori suggested, only to take it back once she thought about it. "But then again, that would imply they waited a whole year to try hurt us, and that... doesn't sound logical."

"Well, what matters is that there's clearly something else going on," Honoka remarked, getting nods of agreement from the rest. "Somebody sent those impostors, and also made sure to make finding their real identities much harder than it should be."

"Speaking of them, where are those impostors now?" Umi inquired, only to flinch when she got an idea. "You didn't let them go free, did you?"

"Of course not, at least, not for a while," Eli answered, crossing her arms as she remembered the event. "It took us a while to think of a proper punishment for them since they hurt Maki, but eventually we came to an agreement, and we let them go on one condition."

Umi raised an eyebrow. "What's that condition?"

 ** _Nishikino Household..._**

The impostors, wearing an apron over their Rin and Hanayo personas, cleaned the floors and organized the house while Maki's Mom, Mrs. Nishikino, sternly watched them.

"That's right, keep cleaning!" Mrs. Nishikino stated with an authoritarian tone. "I want every inch of this house clean when my sweet little Maki returns home, you hear!?"

"Yes, ma'am!" the impostors exclaimed with terrified tones.

Mrs. Nishikino clenched her fists and yelled, "Ma'am!?"

"Miss!" the impostors quickly corrected.

The woman nodded with a stern glare, then went to prepare some food, allowing the impostors to talk with each other.

"Good lord, what a terrifying woman," Not-Rin said. "If I had known our victim had such an agressive mother, I never would've hurt her!"

"Heck, if I had known that I'd get kidnapped and turned into an impostor against my will, I would've," Not-Hanayo sighed. "I just wanna go back home, but I don't even remember where I live!"

Not-Rin shed a tear. "Me neither."

The impostors exchanged saddened looks, and continued the cleaning, lest they summon Maki's Mom's wrath.

 ** _Back with the girls..._**

"So, both Nico and Maki are at the hospital, and it's probably a matter of time before another one of us go down," Honoka recapped with a slightly concerned tone. "What are we supposed to do now? We can't just stand here and do nothing, and going to train without another member doesn't feel right!"

Hanayo took a deep breath and lowered. "I don't know."

The other members lowered their heads and frowned until Honoka suggested:

"Maybe... we could rest for now and discuss a plan tomorrow?"

Seeing no other option, the girls nodded and most of them went back home, except for Umi and Kotori.

"Umi?" Kotori asked.

"Yes, Kotori?" Umi replied with a concerned tone.

"I know this might be a dumb question, but, when do you think we'll be able to move on from this "impersonator" plot and go back to just being regular idols?" Kotori inquired with a nervous tone. "I mean, I thought it would be over when we found out the identities of the impostors, but that wound up not being the case."

Umi frowned and lowered her head. "Kotori-"

"And I'm not saying that I want this all to end because I'm not excited to try something different, quite the contrary; In any other situation, I'd be excited over the fact we're doing something other than being idols for once," Kotori added hastily, her tone and look growing worried as she continued. "But, people impersonating us? Being tricked by those same impostors, and being beaten up by them as well? This is quite possibly the worst case scenario!"

"No, I can imagine several worse scenarios than this-" the blue-haired girl stopped herself when she saw Kotori's face turning blue. "But that's not something you want to hear right now."

Kotori turned back to normal, and Umi took a deep breath and gave her answer:

"Quite honestly, I don't think we'll be done with this for a while."

"It won't?!" Kotori exclaimed, her panic intensifying as she grabbed her hair and added, "Just how much worse could this possibly get, then?! We already got Nico and Maki hospitalized, who the heck could be the next target?!"

Umi took a deep breath. "Calm down, Kotori-"

"Calm down?! You want me to calm down!?" Kotori snapped. "In case you haven't noticed, there are people impersonating Muse, and two of our nine-group team are out of commission! How am I supposed to stay calm?!"

Umi promptly put a hand on Kotori's head and started petting her as she answered:

"Things might be looking bad right now, but that doesn't mean things won't get better eventually. Just stay calm and be patient, like Nozomi."

"Wait, that's it! Nozomi!" Kotori chirped up. "W-We could ask her to see our future in her cards! I mean, I'm not sure if I'd believe her, but it's still worth a try, right?"

Umi brushed Kotori's hair once again. "That's the spirit! Come on, let's go see Nozomi."

The duo held hands and exchanged smiles before they looked for Nozomi together.

 ** _Speaking of Nozomi..._**

The girl was at the park, right around the same spot where Maki's phone was found. She hesitantly looked at the trash cans for any signs of another phone, as to see if somebody else had suffered the same fate as Eli and Maki.

"Well, so far, there doesn't seem to be any phones in the trash," Nozomi sighed. "The only other way to find out would leave me queasy for at least a day."

"Nozomi!"

The motherly idol flinched and turned around to see Kotori and Umi running up to her.

"Geez, don't scare me like that, please," she requested while she clutched her chest and took a deep breath.

"Sorry," Kotori sheepishly said.

"What are you doing here?" Umi asked.

"Well, remember how we found Maki's phone in the garbage after Nico collapsed?" Nozomi asked, earning a nod from Umi. "I was looking through the trashcans to see if there were any new phones, to see if the impostors struck again."

"Well, can you stop that for a minute and give us a reading?" Umi requested. "Of tarot cards, to be precise."

"Luckily for you," Nozomi reached for her back and took out a deck of cards. "I never go out without my cards."

Nozomi sat down, shuffled her deck, then took out three cards, which she placed face-down before she flipped them up, one by one.

The cards she took out were an Upright Tower, Upright Judgement, and Reversed Death.

"The cards, so far, seem to point that change is coming, and the change might be,"

"If the, why is the Death card mong them?" Kotori asked, only to guess, "Is somebody going to die?!"

"No, Kotori, don't worry, the Death card doesn't really mean somebody's going to die; That's an erroneous myth fiction made up for ominousness," "No, what the Death card means is change, although what type of change, and the circumstances behind it, depend on whether it's upright or reversed."

"The Death card's reversed," Umi blurted, earning a nod from the girl. "What does that mean?"

"It means that someone, or maybe even all of us, are on the verge of change, but we're resisting it somehow," Nozomi answered with a concerned tone. "Perhaps, the card's reversed because we don't know _what_ to change in order to deal with our current situation more effectively."

"Well, Rin's been watching mystery shows lately, so we could ask her for suggestions," Kotori suggested with a shrug. "It's not a guarantee, though."

"It's better than sitting down and waiting for the next member of Muse to wind up being impersonated," Nozomi replied with a shrug.

Umi and Kotori exchanged looks, then looked at Nozomi, who flinched and leaned back as she asked, "I-Is something the matter?"

"You're a lot calmer than you were a couple days ago," Umi remarked, crossing her arms as Kotori nodded in agreement. "In fact, you're acting more like yourself today than you did back then, Nozomi."

"Oh, well, I've had enough time to take a deep breath, calm down, and go back to how I usually acted," Nozomi explained, clasping her hands. "And besides, the principal became concerned with how I was acting, so she gave me something for stress relief."

"Pills?" Kotori asked.

"Nope," Nozomi reached for her back and took out a ball. "A squeaky ball."

Nozomi pressed the ball a couple times, causing it to squeak as Umi and Kotori looked at it, the latter cheering up as she looked.

"I don't know why, but squishing it until it starts squeaking is so cathartic and relaxing," Nozomi extended the ball towards Kotori. "Would you like to try it? I've heard you've been stressed out lately."

Kotir took the ball, squeezed it once, and smiled as she started squeezing repeatedly. "Wow, it really works! Can I take it with me?"

"Sure, you need it more than I do right now," Nozomi nodded with a reassuring smile.

And with that, Kotori cheerfully strolled back home while repeatedly squeezing the ball, with Umi nodding to Nozomi and thanking her for the reading before she left as well.

Now all alone, Nozomi looked at her deck, shuffled it, then took out a card.

The card she took out? The Reversed Justice.

But rather than be horrified at the card she got, Nozomi looked sad, with small hints of lamentable acceptance.

"I guess it's to be expected that someone like me would get this kind of card," Nozomi sighed sadly. "I just hope my fortune can change soon."

Nozomi took a deep breath, and looked at the sky as she added:

"For everybody's sake..."


	7. Chapter 7

**New month, new chapter of Shocked, and hopefully less insane hiatuses between releases of chapters... Oh, who am I kidding, that's still gonna happen no matter what. XD**

 **Now, before I begin, I'd like to tell you guys that I actually have more or less done the general outline for this story already. I still got quite a few chapters to write, obviously, but in terms of what I'll do, I do know what that will be.**

 **And who knows? We might be nearing the middle of the story, as well.**

 **But for now, let's just head forward, and see what other bizarre pairing, mysterious hint, or other stuff this chapters brings to the table.**

* * *

Back at the hospital, Maki had finished recapping the current events to Nico, who had a look of mixed shock and amazement.

"And that's basically what happened," Maki sighed. "And, now that I think about, it was kind of a good thing that you weren't there. I mean, going by what those impostors did to me, who knows what they could've done to you if you harn't... you know."

"Speaking of... that, has something like that happened again?" Nico asked. "I mean, you already told me Eli was a victim as well, but has anybody else been targeted? Honoka, Nozomi, Rin, anybody else?"

"As far as I'm aware, no," Maki shook her head and looked elsewhere. "Come to think of it, the link messages just... vanished after Eli's."

"So, the impostors went from impersonating people through messages, to impersonating them physically?" Nico asked with a concerned tone. "That's good to hear."

Maki scratched her chin. "I didn't think about that."

"No, really, it really is a good thing to hear," Nico added, though it was hard to tell whether she was being sarcastic or genuine. "Now instead of worrying about my phone, I'll have to worry about who I'm talking with once I see the team again."

Maki frowned, which prompted Nico to ask, "Say, you mentioned Umi and Honoka showed you a video that cheered you up. What was it about?"

"The video they showed me was about you, dressed like a bride and dancing while you sang a song from my diary," Maki explained with a sly smile. "And honestly, I have no idea how you found the song, or how Honoka and Umi found the video of you singing it-"

"I do: I posted the video about a week before the time I collapsed," Nico answered. "Now, how didn't you or the rest of Muse notice until now is beyond me. I mean, I'm me!"

"Ha! That's the Nico I know and-" Maki paused, smiled, and lowered her head. "Wish I could've protected some more."

Nico, hearing that statement, slowly turned to face Maki and frowned. "Have you been blaming yourself over what happened with me?"

Maki remained silent and looked elsewhere, prompting Nico to say:

"Maki, I know that it must hurt to know somebody impersonated you, and used your identity to basically hurt me, but you can't blame yourself for something that was beyond your control-"

"Beyond my control? What are you talking about?" the redhead answered, still looking elsewhere. "If I had just paid a little more attention to my phone, if I had been there with you when it happened, if I had done anything at all, none of this would've happened!"

Nico shook her head. "How are you sure that's true?"

Maki fell silent for a while, as if she was trying to think of an appropriate answer to Nico's question.

"By the way, the page where I got the song said that it was written by a Mako Omine," Nico suddenly said. "Is that your former penname?"

"Oh no, that's... the name of an old friend of mine," Maki sighed and lowered her head. "We used to be the best of friends when we were younger: We were always together, we did everything together, we had each other's backs, we were practically inseparable."

Nico frowned. "Then, what happened?"

"She and I wound up going to different schools," Maki took a deep breath. "Even after she tried her hardest to go in the same school as me. And since then, we... haven't really talked... or met each other..."

Maki then smiled and turned to Nico. "But hey, I don't really regret it too much; I mean, I got to meet you, I got to become a part of Muse, and everything's been fine so far... well, ignoring the stuff that just happened, of course."

And then Maki's doctor arrived. "Mrs. Nishikino? We finished the tests and concluded that you can go home, with the cast of course. Your mother is waiting nearby to take you home."

"Alright, got it," Maki nodded, then turned back to Nico. "I'm sorry we have to cut this conversation short."

"Are you kidding me? Spending any time with you at all made my day a hundred times better!" Nico replied with a smile. "So did Nozomi's visit a while ago."

Maki smiled and nodded. "Well, I gotta go. Goodbye, Nico."

Nico returned the smile. "Goodbye, Maki."

The redhead stood up and left the room, leaving the raven-haired idol to catch her breath and calm down once more.

"Mako Omine, huh?" Nico said to herself. "I hope we get to meet someday."

 ** _The Next Day, at School..._**

Honoka and Kotori walked to the building while they looked around for any signs of Umi, who was seemingly nowhere to be seen.

"I still haven't seen Umi," Kotori said before she turned to her friend. "What about you, Honoka?"

"Me neither," she answered with a sigh.

"Do you think she was kidnapped?!" Kotori asked as she put a hand on her cheek. "Could whoever kidnapped the impostors have kidnapped her Roo.?!*

As much as Honoka wanted to shake her head and reassure her friwnd that wasn't the case, judging by what's been happening lately, and especially what happened to Maki, Honoka couldn't exactly act ignorant about it.

"That's... a possibility," she answered.

"Hey, girls!"

Honoka and Kotori stopped and turned around, where they saw Umi running as fast as she could to them.

"Oh hey, Umi, we were just talking about you," Honoka said as the blue-haired girl reached her friends. "Did something happen?"

"Yeah, we looked for you everywhere since you weren't there to walk to school with us, but we couldn't find you," Kotori added.

"I know, I'm sorry for disappearing without notice, but some stuff came up and I didn't get the time to tell you about it," Umi said as she caught her breath. "But, I'm here now, I'm sorry for not telling you earlier, so let's go to class, okay?"

Umi walked past Honoka and Kotori, sending a chill down both their spines, though they shrugged off the feeling after a moment.

 ** _Sometime later, at the student council room..._**

Most of the remaining members of Muse and the principal gathered at the room, with everybody immediately noticing the absence of a certain girl, which Honoka pointed out:

"Where's Nozomi?"

"She said she had some stuff to do, so she'll catch up with us eventually," Umi answered. "Anyway, what are we going to discuss today?"

"Well, we're not discussing anything related to the impostors, since the Rin and Hanayo copycats were dealt with, and nobody has sent phony messages since Eli," the principal explained. "No, what I want to talk to you about, is about how many members of Muse are remaining."

"Right, that's something we haven't discussed so far," Eli remarked. "So, how many members do we have left?"

"So far, Nico and Maki are both unavailable, and while Nico will probably return in a week, it might take Maki a lot longer to recover," Honoka said as she scratched her chin. "Umi, how long do you think Maki will take to recover?"

"Well, according to the internet, a broken arm can take up to six weeks to hto heal," Umi answered with a concerned tone. "That is, if nothing happens to it."

Kotori flinched. "What do you mean by that?"

"You know, hitting the doorframe while walking, somebody poking or touching it abruptly, things that normally happens to someone if they're too careless or clumsy," Umi explained with a wave of her hand. "If anything like that happens to Maki, she might take a little bit longer to recover."

Kotori's face turned blue and she sat on the chair rather abruptly, getting the rest of Muse's attention.

"Kotori, are you okay?!" Hanayo asked. "Was Umi's description too much for you?!"

"Oh dang, I must've been a little too graphic," Umi remarked with a sheepish smile as she scratched the back of her head. "Sorry!"

The rest of Muse's members went to Kotori's aid, with Honoka following them for a moment before Umi grabbed her by the back of her shirt, and pulled her out of the clubroom, with Rin catching a glimpse of that.

"Why did you do that for, Umi?!" Honoka snapped.

"Honoka, I need to talk to you about something in private," Umi said. "Do you think we could talk at the library, while Kotori's being healed by our friends?"

"Sure, I don't have a problem with that," Honoka replied hesitantly, then turned back to the clubroom. "But Kotori-"

Umi grabbed Honoka's chin and made her look at her, saying:

"The rest of Muse is taking care of her, she's in good hands."

Honoka looked straight at Umi's eyes, noticed they were green in color, and, rather than freak out about it, she smiled and nodded, saying:

"You're right, she's in good hands. Let's go."

"Umi" nodded in return, and before they knew it, the duo were at the library... where there was nobody else nearby.

"Huh, weird," Honoka said as she took a look around. "The library's usually full of people at this hour."

"Yeah," "Umi" remarked as she gained a little smile. "I wonder why it's so empty."

And as Honoka continued to play like the naive damsel, "Umi" reached for her skirt pocket as Honoka said:

"By the way, Umi, there's something I'd like to say to you."

"Oh yeah?" "Umi" replied. "What is it?"

"Umi" took out a pocket knife, and started extending its blade.

"Well, it's just that, considering everything that's happened so far, I'm happy that I can count on you no matter what."

Once it was ready to be used, "Umi" looked at the pocket knife as its blade shined and reflected her confident smile at her.

"It's my pleasure to help, Honoka."

Umi glanced at Honoka's legs, and gripped the knife tighter.

"But you know..." Honoka slowly turned around. "There's just one problem."

Before the girl could react, Honoka grabbed "Umi"'s arm and squeezed it, making her drop the knife as she growled:

"Umi doesn't have green eyes."

"Umi" stumbled on her words and looked all over the place, trying to think of how to explain herself. And eventually, she came up with a way to do it:

Punch Honoka right in the gut, then run away as fast as she could. And as she ran, Honoka gave chase and shouted:

"Everyone, don't let her get away! This Umi is an impostor!"

The remaining Muse members stopped and turned to look at the chase, having only vaguely heard what Honoka said.

"What did Honoka say about Umi?" Eli asked Kotori. "Something about another impostor?"

"I couldn't hear her either," Kotori shook her head, and turned to Not-Umi. "Hey, Umi, what's going-"

"Out of my way!" Not-Umi snapped at Kotori.

Then, the unthinkable happened: Not-Umi slapped Kotori so hard, not only did she leave behind a hand mark on her cheek, but everybody fell silent as Kotori, with a numb look, hit the wall and slid down.

The impostor, however, barely got time to realize her mistake, as Rin got in front of her, bared her fingernails, and hissed:

"How dare you hit Kotori, nya!"

Without hesitation, Rin swung her "claws" at the impostor, slashing at her right eye in the process. And while this didn't stop her outright, the pain made her slow down for a moment, allowing the group to chase her as Honoka ran to Kotori's side.

"Oh my god, Kotori!" Honoka exclaimed, hugging her slapped friend. "Please tell me you're okay!"

"I'm fine, Mommy," the girl said as she saw birds flying in circles. "I can walk home by myself today."

Then she fell unconscious soon after. Honoka walked back into the room, and gently put Kotori on a chair, before she reunited with the rest of Muse in their chase for Not-Umi.

And in the middle of the chase, Nozomi suddenly walked into view of Not-Umi, who also tried to slap her out of the way, only for the blue-haired motherly idol to grab her slapping hand, flip her around, then slap her hard enough to send her spinning down a set of stairs.

By the time Nozomi realized what she'd done, the rest of Muse arrived and Honoka exclaimed:

"Nozomi, that Umi's an impostor!"

The motherly idol nodded and chased after Not-Umi, as Eli realized something:

"Wait a minute, if that Umi's an impostor, then where's the real Umi?!"

The girls heard somebody's muffled screaming from nearby. They slowly followed the screams... from the spot where Nozomi came from, and they followed the screams until they reached the source of them: A locker.

And as soon as they opened it, a bound and gagged Umi fell out and hit the floor face-first.

"Umi! Oh, thank goodness we found you!" Eli said as she and Rin untied the girl and removed the tape on her mouth. "So, uh, this might not be the best thing to ask, but are you okay?"

Umi got ready to say something, but the pain from the tape removal caught up to her and made her cover her mouth and scream a little. She then took a couple seconds to recover before she answered:

"I got kidnapped and replaced by a lookalike, do you think that sounds like I'm fine?!"

Then, Umi turned to Honoka and put her hands on her shoulders. "Honoka, please tell me you managed to catch the impostor!"

"I'm sorry, Umi, but she ran away," Honoka frowned. "And that's not all..."

Umi frowned, worried for what Honoka would say next.

 ** _Meanwhile, inside a Divination Store..._**

Not-Umi sat on a chair and laughed out loud while "Nozomi" prepared some tea and cookies.

"Good work today, Nozomi!" Not-Umi remarked as she put her arms behind her head. "I especially liked-not really-the part where you slapped me so hard I was sent spinning down the stairs! That was a clever act! It even felt like I was hit by the real deal!"

Nozomi, now revealed to be an impostor, turned to Not-Umi, smiled and chirped, "Actually, the slap was completely genuine."

Not-Umi flinched. "Huh?"

"You honestly scared me when I saw you coming towards me, and I did the first thing I could think of," Notzomi explained with a smile. "Thank goodness I wasn't hitting you as hard I could, though, who knows what would've happened otherwise."

Not-Umi flinched as Notzomi walked towards her and put the tea and cookies on the table. "You know, it's times like this where I can't tell if you're a friend or-"

"Sorry, we're late."

The duo turned around and saw a Honoka and a Kotori, both with vibrant green eyes, enter the store and take seats close to Not-Umi. As this happened, Notzomi took out something from her skirt, and held it close to her as the trio talked:

"So, "Umi," Not-Honoka said as she crossed her legs. "Tell us, what did you find?"

"Geez, going straight to negotiations, are we?" Not-Umi rested her chin on her palm. "Okay, so, I was found out-"

Not-Honoka, Not-Kotori, and Notzomi looked elsewhere and muttered "Of course you were," prompting Not-Umi to snap, "Let me finish!"

"It seems that Muse can recognize the real deal from the impostor by their eyes," Not-Umi told the impostors. "And considering their work, we can't deal with the issue by keeping our eyes closed."

"Why don't we just damage one of their members' eyes, and then have their impostor replace her?" Not-Kotori suggested.

"And what, have their impostor suddenly appear with her eyes totally fine?" Not-Honoka pointed out. "And besides, you're ignoring the more incriminating fact: You outright slapped Kotori, Umi and Honoka's best friend, like the bitch she is, right in front of the rest of Muse!"

"You did what?!" Notzomi exclaimed in shock.

"You focus on fixing my damn eye, okay? This has nothing to do with you!" Not-Umi snapped at Notzomi before she turned back to Not-Kotori and Not-Honoka. "Listen, I was just found out, I needed to get the hell out of there, what else did you expect me to do?!"

Then Not-Umi focused on Not-Kotori. "If you had replaced that skank like you were supposed to do, it wouldn't have been an issue."

"That's a bunch of bullshit, and you know it," Not-Kotori stated. "Whether it was me or the real Kotori, slapping her in any capacity would've blown your cover!"

"Ugh, then what did you expect me to do?!" Not-Umi frowned. "Just push her and the other members away?!"

Not-Kotori and Not-Honoka pinched the bridge of their noses in frustration, and Not-Umi got the message and changed the subject:

"Is You available?"

"Why the weird grammar?" Not-Honoka inquired.

Not-Umi raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"You said "is You available" like-"

"I mean if the girl named You is available!" Not-Umi snapped. "Maybe I should call her by her codename, what Muse member is she impersonating?"

"I think she's impersonating one of A-RISE's members instead," Not-Kotori answered. "I can't quite remember which one though."

"She's impersonating the short one with a big forehead," Not-Honoka answered bluntly. "Her name is Tsubasa Kira, and she's the leader of the group."

"The leader, huh?" Not-Umi said as she crossed her arms. "To think the boss would go straight for the leader with A-RISE, unlike with Muse."

Not-Kotori shrugged. "Well, to be fair, A-RISE actually has a leader, unlike Muse."

Notzomi glanced at the trio, then went to clear her mind by doing some cleaning, while making sure to keep the object she was using away from the water.

"What about Rin and Hanayo?" Not-Umi asked.

"Meh, they were found pretty easily, it's almost like they didn't bother to hide," Not-Kotori answered. "At least they dealt with Maki Nishikino before they were caught."

Notzomi suddenly froze.

"Oh, really?" Not-Umi remarked with a hint of relief. "Well, there's one bitch left to deal with. What did they do to her?"

"Tie her up, break her arm, beat her up, stuff like that," Not-Honoka explained. "And get this: She even tried to use a stun gun on them, but they managed to steal it and use it on _her_ instead!"

Notzomi's grip tightened and her eyes diluted as she gritted her teeth, and coincidentally, Not-Honoka and Not-Kotori stood up and said:

"Well, we gotta go back to the base. See ya, Umi."

Not-Umi waved goodbye, and as soon as Not-Honoka and Not-Kotori were out of view, Not-Umi got up, only to be grabbed in a nelson hold by Notzomi as she dragged her to the back.

"Y-You skank!" Not-Umi growled as she tried to claw her way out. "What the hell are you doing!?"

"I'm tired of your attitude, your act, and especially your naughty mouth!" Notzomi stated with a stern look. "And I'm not going to stay down and hear you anymore!"

"Oh yeah? What are you going to do?!" Not-Umi asked with a sneer. "In fact, what _can_ you do?!"

Notzomi tightened her grip on Not-Umi, and revealed the object she held the entire time: A voice recorder.

"You filmed the entire conversation?!" Not-Umi growled.

Nozomi nodded as she put the recorder back on her skirt. "Yes, I did."

Then, Nozomi took out the cloth she filled with chloroform and put it in Not-Umi's mouth. And as the blue-haired impostor lost consciousness, Nozomi stated:

"And now, I'm taking you to Muse."


	8. Chapter 8

**And now, we come with the next chapter of this story.**

 **Not much else to say here, except that we're already past the middle mark of this story: First half is done, and now begins the second half, which I promise is going to get a little bit crazy later down the line.**

 **But for now, let's see what happens here...**

* * *

The next day, at the Kosaka household, Honoka slept peacefully until a younger female voice called:

"Sister! You're going to be late for school!"

Immediately woken up by the call, Honoka flinched and rolled out of her bed, with the girl quickly getting up and getting dressed soon after. She then left her room, only to stop when she saw her younger sister, Yukiho, standing outside.

She didn't seem angry or upset, however; she looked quite concerned in fact.

"Sorry, Yukiho, I'm already on my way to-" Honoka said, taking a few seconds to notice her sister's look. "What's wrong?"

"I just got an idea as to why you were taking longer to go to school than usual," Yukiho clasped her hands and sheepishly smiled. "And I want to say that I'm sorry, if that was the reason you were sleeping so long."

Honoka frowned. "You mean the impersonations issue, right?"

Yukiho flinched, then frowned and lowered her head. Honoka smiled and brushed her sister's head as she said:

"It's alright, Yukiho, don't worry about me, I'll be fine."

"B-But, two of your friends have already suffered because of the impostors!" Yukiho exclaimed, surprising Honoka. "What happens if you're the next victim?!"

Honoka's shock turned into confidence. "Well, I'll just have to do my best not to let myself get beaten!"

Then Honoka grabbed her bag and ran out of the house, shouting:

"Bye everyone, I'm going to school!"

Yukiho walked downstairs just as Honoka closed the door, and as soon as she was out of view, the girl slightly lowered her eyelids and smiled...

 ** _Then, at the Ayase Household..._**

Eli, just coming out of her bath, walked into her bedroom just as she heard her phone ringing. And the caller wasn't a fellow member of Muse, or somebody she knew was in Japan right now.

The caller was her sister, Alisa Ayase.

"Alisa?!" Eli said as she answered the call. "What a surprise you'd call me so early! What's up?"

"W-Well, I was wondering if you were doing okay, sister," Alisa answered from the other end. "I've heard some rumors that there was an issue with impostors in your school-"

"Y-You did? How?" Eli inquired. "I'm pretty sure the school's been keeping it secret since Nico was hospitalized."

"I found out through a news report on that Nico girl's hospitalization, actually," Alisa answered. "Since Muse has been getting news coverage lately where I'm studying."

Eli frowned. "Muse is getting news coverage? Now that I think about it, Nico was the one in charge of marketing and press for Muse..."

Alisa then asked with a curious tone, "Has anybody else been doing her work, then?"

Eli felt a chill go down her spin, and she hastily said "W-Well, thanks for calling Alisa, good luck with your studies!" before she hung up the phone and pulled her hair, thinking:

" _Has somebody been keeping an eye on Muse's publicity?!_ "

 ** _Later, at the streets leading to the school..._**

Eli thought about the whole "Nico's position might've been left unattended" deal when she spotted somebody approaching her, this someone being Honoka, looking slightly worried.

" _Is Honoka walking towards me? Did she realize the possibility Muse's publicity was left alone too?!_ " Eli took a deep breath. " _No, even if that's the case, I can't let her see me freaking out! I need to keep my cool!_ "

So, once Honoka was close, the blonde idol kept her composure as she greeted, "H-Hi, Honoka."

"Hi, Eli," Honoka greeted in return. "Hey, did your sister look worried about the impersonations?"

Eli scratched her chin. "Well, she did call me to ask whether I was doing well or not."

Honoka raised an eyebrow. "Call?"

"Well, yeah, call: She's studying overseas," Eli explained. "Anyway, this morning, she gave me a phone call to ask me if I was feeling well, if I was still shaken by the impersonations, and so on."

"Ah, I see, sounds like she was just as worried as my sister," Honoka sighed. "Say, do you have any idea on how they found out about the impersonations?"

"I honestly didn't think about it too much," Eli shrugged. "I get the feeling that if I do, I'll start thinking my sister's been impersonated or something."

Honoka stopped right then and there, her look having gone from worried to outright horrified. Eli noticed too, and hastily explained:

"I-It's just a p-possibility, though! D-Don't take it as me saying it's definitely the case, Honoka!"

The girl's eyes slowly regained her shine as Honoka calmed down, took a deep breath, and smiled. "Thanks, Eli. Not so much for the scare, but for helping me calm down."

Eli smiled and calmed down herself. "No problem. It's the least I can do, really."

"Hey, you two!"

The duo turned around and saw Hanayo and Rin running towards them, both sporting worried looks.

"Hi Hanayo, Rin," Eli greeted. "Is something the matter?"

"We just realized something, nya!" Rin answered as she and Hanayo caught their breath. "Nico's job was to check the marketing and publicity of Muse, but we don't know if anybody's been doing her job lately!"

"Have either of you checked, just in case?" Hanayo asked.

Eli and Honoka smiled nervously as they internally screamed as high as their lungs could scream, and mere moments later, the quartet ran to the room designated for publicity... and found someone checking just that.

Umi was the one checking it, after all.

"Oh, Umi, thank goodness, we were worried nobody had been paying attention to Nico's stuff!" Eli said, only to be suddenly shushed by Honoka.

The girl walked towards Umi, who stopped working to turn to look at Honoka. "Is something the matter?"

Honoka grabbed Umi's cheeks, took a closer look, and as soon as she noticed Umi had her natural golden eye color, she hugged the girl and chirped:

"This is the real Umi!"

And then Umi awkwardly hugged Honoka back. "Um, yeah, Honoka, it's the real me. Now could you let me get back to work?"

"What was that all about?" Hanayo asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Rin inquired. "Because the impostor Umi last time was only identifiable by eyes and behavior, and even then the behavior wasn't exactly out of the ordinary, the only way Honoka could tell the two apart would be by their eyes!"

"Oh, so that's what she was doing?" Umi asked as Honoka separated from her. "What eye color did my impostor have, then?"

"They were a vibrant green," Honoka answered. "And despite what Rin said, she did act a little bit different than you: She wanted me to leave Kotori when she went blue due to her explanation."

Umi scratched her chin. "Hmm, I see..."

"How's the publicity and marketing doing, Umi?" Eli asked.

"I wish I could say it was doing well, but that's only half-right," Umi sadly answered as the team went to her side and checked the laptop. "While Muse is getting a lot of traffic and news, they're less about Muse and our songs than it is about the impostors and what happened to Nico."

Honoka frowned. "At least tell me that the comments are nice."

Umi opened the comment section of the recent news as she explained:

"Comments from our fans are still the same, ranging from nice to trollish to spam, but when it comes to Maki and Nico fan commenters, things have been very heated since Nico's collapse became viral."

Hanayo looked closer and read a comment, "How dare one half of NicoMaki sabotage the other half?"

Eli frowned as she read another comment, "Maki gets away with traumatizing Nico and she only gets a broken arm in return? She should've-"

Umi immediately closed the page and took a deep breath. "Sorry, some of those comments are really freaking intense, so I wanted to stop you from reading what I read."

Honoka frowned. "Is it that bad?"

Umi's face turned blue and contorted into what could best be described as "constipated horror."

"I'll take that as a yes," Honoka sighed. "Well, at least there hasn't been much damage to Muse's reputation yet."

"Yeah, but still, the fact that the impersonations and problems with Maki and Nico have hit the news this fast is worrying," Umi said as she stood up. "Who knows what'll happen if another member of Muse gets impersonated or becomes unavailable due to an injury?"

"Let's not think about that now," Eli said. "For now, let's see if anything's happened in the clubroom."

The girls nodded and followed Eli to the clubroom, with Umi joining them once she closed the laptop.

 ** _Shortly after, at Muse's clubroom..._**

The members of Muse entered the room, only to find Notzomi tying up the still-knocked out Not-Umi to a chair, with the girl only stopping once she noticed the team arrive.

Not knowing she wasn't the real deal, though, they were more focused on the captured impostor.

"Nozomi, is this the impostor that Honoka was talking about yesterday?!" Umi asked as she ran up to the unconscious girl. "How did you find her?"

And then Umi raised an eyebrow and turned to Notzomi. "In fact, how did you even knock her out?"

"Well, I didn't knock her out myself, I found her lying on the ground while a pair of girls who looked like Honoka and Kotori ran away," Notzomi explained as the rest of Muse ran up to the impostor. "I'm guessing they're their impostors, and they tried to dispose of her since she was found out."

"Wait, we have impostors as well?!" Honoka exclaimed, earning a saddened nod from Notzomi.

"I can't believe there's an impostor for me and Honoka as well," Kotori said. "I guess we're gonna need to pay attention to their eyes more often."

"Well, the eyes, and their breasts," Notzomi stated. "I took the liberty of checking her breasts while I took her here, and her bust definitely feels bigger than Umi's natural chest."

"Um, I can hear you, you know!" Umi snapped as she put her hands on her hips. "And for your information, I'm not that flat!"

"Oh, I'm not saying you are, Umi," Notzomi answered while waving her hand. "I'm just saying your impostor has bigger breasts than you."

"Still, I don't think that's an effective way of telling them apart," Hanayo remarked. "I mean, wouldn't the impostors try to adjust their bodies so they look more like the people they're impersonating?"

"Nozomi's right, though," Rin remarked, as she groped the impostor's breasts. "Her bust is a bit bigger than Umi's."

Umi immediately walked to the unconscious rip-off, and gently pushed Rin away. "Come on, girls, be for real! I mean, even if my impostor-"

She paused as soon as she felt her copycat's bust.

Seconds later, the girl crouched down at the corner, muttering "I made myself sad now" as she was surrounded by a gloomy aura.

And nanoseconds later, Umi stood up and proclaimed, "But that doesn't matter right now!"

"Wow, you changed moods so quick, nya!" Rin chirped while rapidly clapping. "Teach me how to do that, nya!"

Umi blushed and looked elsewhere. "L-Let's wait until after we're done with the impostors, alright?"

"Yes, Master Umi!" Rin exclaimed. "Now, back to the faker! Wake her up so we can ask her some questions, nya!"

Notzomi threw an "are you serious?" look at Rin. "I'm going to take that as an intentional joke."

"Yeah, Nozomi does have a point," Eli said. "We can't just wake up an impostor and expect her to cooperate, next thing we know, she'll be spouting obscenities at our faces with no intent to shut up."

"But the last two were cooperative!" Hanayo stated.

"That was only when we showed them the people they were claiming to be, though, the Dia and Chika girls," Honoka answered as she folded her arms. "Until then, they smugly boasted about what they did to Maki, with no hints of remorse or anything."

Notzomi frowned and looked elsewhere.

"Okay, in that case, I'll take the interrogation over from here, girls," the principal stated as she reached for the chair's handles. "Meanwhile, you can go back to-"

As soon as the woman tried to lift the chair, however, she struggled for a bit before she paused, then tried to lift it again, with the same futile results.

"Huh, do you think Umi's impostor is heavier than her?" Hanayo asked.

"Don't be ridiculous, Hanayo!" Umi stated. "Even if the principal is a strong woman, it's going to be difficult to carry a teenage student tied to a chair by herself!"

"Yeah, I could use a little help here," the principal remarked with a deadpan tone.

Without hesitation, Notzomi walked up to the tied impostor and, along with the principal, lifted her off the ground and walked out of the clubroom, while the rest of Muse spoke:

"Nozomi's strong!"

"Or maybe the impostor's light and the principal's not that strong, nya?"

"Don't inquire my Mom's wrath like that!"

Once out of the clubroom, what followed between the pair was pure silence, with Notzomi trying to avoid eye contact as the principal focused solely on the impostor, who scrunched her eyes as if she was starting to wake up.

When the duo were at the principal's office, they put the impostor on the ground, and Notzomi quickly made a run for it to the door, only for the principal to catch her and whisper to her ear:

"Thanks for the help, "Mrs. Tojo."

With that, the girl was released, and as she power walked her way downstairs, several questions were stuck in her mind:

"Did she find out? Was she just thanking me out of good will? No, the "Mrs. Tojo" definitely sounded like she was on to something. Like she had the idea something was amiss. But did she find out what was amiss?"

Then she reached the staircase and, still out of reality with the questions, Notzomi slipped and nearly fell, only for someone to grab her hand and pull her back.

This someone was Eli, who caughr her breath as she asked, "Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah... and sorry..." Notzomi grabbed her arm and looked elsewhere. "My mind was up in the clouds."

"Is that so?" Eli walked to Notzomi's side and wrapped her arm around her shoulder. "In that case, I'll guide you to the classroom."

Eli looked at Notzomi with an exhausted look. "Please don't go to the clouds again."

Notzomi nodded with a nervous smile, and the duo went to the classroom together.

 ** _After Classes..._**

School was over, and the only thing left to do for Notzomi was tell everybody she was leaving, so nobody would get worried again.

"Huh, today was a lot easier than I thought," Notzomi quietly told herself. "I honestly thought some random nonsense would happen that would expose me at the last second."

Then, Notzomi reached the door to the clubroom and slowly opened it. "But, I guess that was all-"

And what she saw inside was none other than the group of Muse watching a particular news report on a laptop screen:

"Earlier yesterday, the teenage idol known as Nozomi Tojo from the popular idol group Muse, was arrested on alleged accusations of sexual harassments."

Eli's eyes widened as the reporter continued:

"According to eye witnesses, Mrs. Tojo had a habit of groping girls, particularly high school girls from her own school, without warning and without asking for consent beforehand."

And with that, Eli paused the video and slowly closed the laptop as Honoka blurted:

"Nozomi was arrested?"

The Muse members slowly turned around to see "Nozomi" staring at the screen in shock, with the motherly idol returning to reality as she was surrounded by Muse's petrifying glares.

"If our Nozomi was arrested," Eli said, narrowing her eyes as she asked with a threatening tone, "Then who the hell are you?"

Startled by the sudden swearing, Notzomi twiddled her fingers and let out a couple of nervous chuckles before she ran away, with the members of Muse giving chase as fast as they could.

As she ran, Notzomi looked at her surroundings, trying to find something to distract or slow down the members of Muse, but the only thing she could find... were a bunch of school girls populating the hallways, each looking at her as Honoka exclaimed:

"That Nozomi's an impostor! Don't let her get away!"

Instead of doing what Honoka told them to do, however, the students stood shocked, having a hard time believing that the Nozomi that was running down had been an impostor all along. Nevertheless, some tried to block the girl's path, forming a barricade with their bodies.

Notzomi simply sped up, jumped, then leaped above the barricade while pulling a pose similar to a ballerina in the air. And once she hit the ground, she kicked the school's entrance open and continued to run, with Muse getting stuck in the barricade for a moment.

Now having a bit of a headstart to the idol group, Notzomi hid behind a tree and took a peek outside to see the idols leave the school and separate, no doubt to look for her.

However, after seeing the groups post-split, she noticed there was an odd absence: That of Rin.

And next thing she knew, the girl herself fell on top of her as the rest of Muse ran up to them.

"Who would've thought that the most random, never-before mentioned plan would actually work?" Umi asked.

"I did, nya!" Rin chirped as she held Notzomi down. "Everybody knows that plans that are never spoken of have a higher chance of succeeding than plans that are spoken about."

"Even if they should logically be a double-edged sword, but whatever," Hanayo shrugged. "At least we got the Notzomi impostor."

With that said, Notzomi took a deep breath and laid on the ground, ready to face whatever the idol group had planned for her.

And then Honoka asked, "So, aren't you going to try to escape again or something?"

"Of course I am!" Notzomi answered as she stood up, with Rin tightening her hold and Honoka putting her back down soon after. "You already got me, what's the point in trying to fight back?"

Eli raised an eyebrow. "It's just that, the last impostors we met weren't this cooperative."

Notzomi's eyes widened. "Was it a Rin and a Hanayo?"

"Well, yeah," Hanayo answered. "They claimed to be a pair of girls named Dia Kurosakawa and Chika Takami, but when we showed them their pictures, they seemingly had an identity crisis."

Hearing that, Notzomi slowly got up, despite Rin and Honoka's continued effort to pin her down, and asked with a concerned tone:

"Where are they now?"

"They're currently living and working at the Nishikino Household as maids or something like that, with Maki's Mom keeping a close eye on them," Umi explained, folding her arms as she added, "Anyway, why do you care?"

"Listen, I know that after finding out I'm not the real deal, the last thing you'll want to do is hear me out," Notzomi sighed and clasped her hands. "But you got to believe me: Those two Idolons don't deserve-"

"Idolons?" Honoka repeated as her arms finally gave in, causing her to release Notzomi. "What are you talking about?"

"It's the Rin and Hanayo impostors you're talking about," Notzomi answered. "From where I and those two come from, people like them are designated with the codename of Idolons."

"So, now we know what they're called," Rin remarked. "This mystery's getting a little deeper, nya!"

"So, you were the one who "modigied" the impostors?"

Everybody turned around to see Principal Minami walking to them, sporting a stern look.

"Yeah, I'm the one guilty of that," Notzomi answered.

"And if the situation is correct, you want to try and "fix" those impostors in order to try and get on our good side?" the principal asked.

"You caught me, and the girls those impostors used to be don't deserve the punishment that should've gone to me," Notzomi explained. "So please, even if it's for a brief moment, let me try to fix them somehow!"

The principal thought about it for a moment, and taking a deep breath, she said:

"Fair enough, but this is your only chance."


	9. Chapter 9

**This chapter of Shocked is sponsored by Idol Anime number 12403495, because I can't think of any clever way to start this chapter. XD**

* * *

Sometime later, the members of Muse, the principal, and Notzomi walked to the Nishikino household, Notzomi looking sternly straight ahead while most members of Muse looked at her with distrust.

"Are you sure we should trust her, Honoka?" Hanayo asked. "I mean, just because she says she can help us, doesn't mean that she'll do it,"

"Yeah, and besides, every impostor before her has given us more than enough trouble," Kotori added with a concerned tone. "How can you be so sure she won't stab us in the back?"

"She betrayed and brought one of her fellow impostors to us, she acted legitimately helpful to us until we found out about Nozomi's arrest, and most importantly, we're not forgiving her for what she did to Umi," Honoka explained. "We'll give her the benefit of the doubt, and see if she can really help with the impostors. And besides, the principal did say we should give her a chance to do this."

"Now that you mention her, where did the principal go?" Hanayo inquired. "I thought she was going to come with us to Maki's house?"

"She stayed back at the school to try interrogate the impostor Umi that the impostor Nozomi brought," Kotori explained. "Once we take Not-Nozomi to Honoka's house, I'll go back to join her as well."

And she did good on her promise soon after, as when the group reached the Nishikino house, Kotori promptly walked back to the school, leaving the rest to watch as Honoka reached for the door.

"Are you sure you want to try this?" Eli asked to Notzomi. "I know, kinda late to ask, but-"

"It's not a case of whether I want or don't want to: It's something I _have_ to do," Notzomi stated. "And besides, you'll take me to the authorities when this is over, so, I don't want to leave any loose ends behind."

"Makes sense to me," Hanayo said, with Rin nodding in agreement.

Soon after, Honoka opened the door, and just as the impostors noticed them and threw confused looks at the group, then shocked looks at Notzomi, she stated:

"Alisa Ayase."

Both Eli and Not-Hanayo flinched.

"Yukiho Kosaka."

Likewise, Honoka and Not-Rin flinched.

"W-Wait a minute..." Honoka's eyes widened. "I-If what you're implying is true..."

"Then they're..." Eli sniffed and pointed at Not-Rin as she shed tears. "They're...!"

Not-Rin and Not-Hanayo exchanged looks, then turned to the pair. Once their eyes met, the impostors smiled wide, shed tears, and leaped right for them and hugged them as they said:

"Sister!"

Once on the ground, the impostors cried with joy as the girls hugged back: Eli brushing Not-Hanayo's hair as she barely kept herself together, while Honoka looked mortified as Yukiho cried in her chest.

"Wait a minute, the impostors were actually Eli and Honoka's younger sisters all along, nya?!" Rin exclaimed, putting her hands on her cheeks. "I never saw that coming!"

"What, didn't any of your detective shows give you the idea the impostors could be related to Muse?" Umi inquired.

Rin folded her arms and looked elsewhere with slight embarrassment. "Yeah, but like a friend or acquantaince, not a sibling!"

Umi raised an eyebrow. "Why's that something you should be embarrassed about?"

"Okay, so these two girls were Eli and Honoka's younger sisters," "Then, who were the impostors that impersonated Maki and Eli in the phone messages?"

"I'm afraid I only know the name of the girls I was told to..." Notzomi hesitated. "Modify. I have no idea who sent those messages."

"Modify?" Umi asked. "That sounds like you did something to them besides making them look like Rin and Hanayo. What exactly did you do?"

Notzomi grabbed her arm and looked elsewhere as she sported a look of shame. "Nothing I'm proud of. The only thing you need to know, is that their "modifications" are in the mental sense, rather than physical."

"So their bodies weren't thinkered with, but their minds were?" Eli said as she stood up, with Alisa hugging her tightly. "I guess that would explain their memory problems when we asked them to tell us what they knew."

"Yeah, and about what they did to Maki," Honoka added, doing the same with Yukiho. "Otherwise, who knows how they'd feel about it."

"Feel about what?" Alisa asked, sending shivers down both girls' spines. "What did we do to Maki?"

Eli and Honoka glanced at Notzomi, who sighed and said:

"I'll explain it to you in private later, what you should focus on right now is Mrs. Nishikino."

"That's right!" Eli exchanged looks with Honoka. "We should explain to her what happened!"

The duo nodded, and promptly ran deeper into the house in search for Maki's mother, leaving Notzomi to hear Umi ask:

"So, who are you?"

One chill down her spine later, Notzomi turned around and saw Umi, with a stern look and folded arms, elaborate:

"You clearly don't suffer the same memory problem that the other impostors do, so you must remember your real identity, right?"

Notzomi nodded.

"Well, since there's no real reason for you to keep acting like Nozomi anyway, how about you cut the charade and tell us who you really are?" Umi added.

Notzomi looked around the place to see all the remaining Muse members looking at her with expectant looks.

"The truth is..."

Notzomi reached for her hair and and took it off, revealing it to be just a wig, and that she had shoulder-length Brown hair. She then opened her eyes and took off a pair of of Green colored contacts, revealing her eyes were actually Brown as well.

With her true form now visible, Notzomi stated:

"My name is Mako Omine."

Everybody gasped, though mostly from shock and not from any deeper meaning.

"Maki's ex-girlfriend, nya?!" Rin exclaimed in surprise.

"That's not what our relationship was like!" Mako snapped, only to blush as she confessed, "But, if that meant keeping Maki safe, I would've tried to go that far."

Then she realized something, "And how do you even know who I am?!"

"Maki told us about you one time when we were practicing our dance routines," Hanayo explained, with Rin nodding in agreement. "She told us about how you were the best of friends, and how she was very sad when you two parted ways."

Hearing that, Mako formed a little smile and lowered her head, whispering, "So... she still remembers me..."

Then she quickly remembered something and said, "Does any of you know when she's coming back?"

"Not really-" Rin answered, only to get her mouth shut by Hanayo.

"And why do you want to know?" Umi inquired as she walked closer to Mako, her stern look narrowing as she added, "Do you have any other sick

"What?! No! The last thing I want for Maki is for her to get hurt!" Mako answered. "I just want to know if she'll be hospitalized or if she'll go back home!"

"Well, you're wasting your time, none of us have the answer you're looking for," Umi replied as she walked to RinPana. "Come on, Rin, Hanayo, I believe I promised Rin to teach her how to switch emotions in an instant."

Hanayo eyed Rin with a sly look. "Riiiight..."

And once the trio were out of sight, Mako took a deep breath and rubbed her forehead, saying:

"Now, only thing left to do is explain to Eli and Honoka what happened..."

 ** _Meanwhile, back at the school..._**

Kotori entered the principal's room as the woman was interrogating Not-Umi, who had a left black eye.

"Oh, hi Kotori, I was waiting for you," the principal said as Kotori walked to her side and looked at the impostor. "Now we can continue the interrogation."

"M-Mom, you didn't beat her up, did you?" Kotori asked with slight concern. "Listen, it's already bad that Muse's reputation might take if this problem goes out of control, and I'm angry at what they did, but beating them up isn't the solution!"

"Don't worry, darling, I was just giving her a taste of what'll happen if she doesn't cooperate," the principal answered as she walked to the impostor. "After seeing what awaits her, I'm sure she'll cooperate."

Then, once she was close enough, she asked:

"Why did you impersonate Umi Sonoda?"

"Right, that's the almost the same question I asked the boss when she gave me the role," Not-Umi answered. "And I mean, can you blame me? Out of all the members in Muse, Umi might just be the most worthless one among them."

Kotori's eyes widened. "What did you say?"

"Of course you'd be angry about it: You don't like it when either of your girlfriends gets insulted, do you?" Not-Umi scoffed. "But even you can't ignore the reality of the situation, darling: In a group as big as Muse, some members are going to be more usless than others. It's _who_ are the useless members that's the question."

Kotori pushed her mother to the side and sternly looked at Not-Umi as she asked, "What are you talking about?"

The impostor, not scared at all by the girl, promptly answered:

"Umi can sing? So can the rest. Umi can dance? So can the rest. Think of anything that Umi can do in the team, and I can assure you that there's at least one other member of Muse that can do it as well, and possibly even better! In fact, it's so obvious that I bet some of Muse's fans wonder why she's even in the group in the first place."

Not-Umi narrowed her eyes:

"After all, just like you, and Honoka, and everybody else but the core three, are replaceable at best, redundant at worst!"

Without warning, Kotori snapped: She unleashed a slap in the face so hard, the impostor had a red handprint left on her cheek, and a tooth flew out and slight blood came from the edge of her mouth as Kotori promptly yelled at her:

"Shut up already! You may _look_ like her, you may know _some_ stuff about her, but you don't know everything about her! In fact, you know _nothing_ about her!"

Kotori grabbed Not-Umi by the neck of her uniform and pulled her forward.

"And yet you dare say all of that stuff to her, you... you... second-rate imitator!?"

"Kotori, calm down!" Principal Minami told her daughter.

Hearing her Mom actually telling her to calm down made the girl realize what she was doing, and as soon as she saw Not-Umi glaring at her, she released her and backed away, repeating "I'm sorry!" as she went back to her mother's side.

"No, you don't have to be sorry about anything, kid," Not-Umi sternly answered. "If anything, you should be happy that you're already showing traits of what an idol should be like: Cute on the outside, but a ticking bomb on the inside."

Kotori and the principal exchanged looks, and as she shined a light on the impostor, the principal said:

"Well then, how about you elaborate on that statement?"

 ** _Back with Mako, Honoka, Eli, Yukiho, and Alisa..._**

The girls sat down at the living room of the Nishikino household, Eli and Honoka sitting with their sisters while Mako sat on another chair as she explained:

"Okay, so, about two weeks before the message that shocked Nico was sent, I was told to modify both of your sisters so they could impersonate Rin and Hanayo. I'm guessing the reason why is because, since they were your sisters and you had connections with them, their identities being revealed would cause more damage to you than if they were just some random girls."

"Two weeks?" Honoka repeated in disbelief. "So, the Yukiho in my house, who's been living with us since then-"

"Is an impostor," Mako answered, sending a chill down Honoka's spine. "It's one I was asked to modify myself, though, so I know her real name. And as soon as she hears it, she'll be too dumbfounded to stop you from kicking her out."

Honoka lowered her head and tried her hardest to hold back the emotions she was feeling at this moment.

"Honoka, please calm down," Yukiho told her obviously upset sister. "Listen, I'm better now, we'll soon get back home, and once we get rid of my impostor, everything can go back to normal."

Then she patted Honoka's back. "You don't have to cry."

"Cry?" Honoka asked, with a threatening tone. "I'm not gonna cry."

Honoka stood up, and flashing a threatening glare at Mako, stated:

"I'm going to need some time alone, though."

With that said, Honoka stomped her way out of the house and walked back home, with Yukiho following her soon after, leaving Mako to explain the situation to Eli and Alisa...

 ** _Meanwhile, with Umi, Rin, and Hanayo..._**

Umi, Rin, and Hanayo were at Rin's bedroom, the latter two sharing the bed while Hanayo sat on the ground and read something.

"I'm sorry I used your request to get out of there, Rin," Umi told the cat lover. "I was so angry, I wanted to get out of there as soon as possible, and the promise was the only thing I could think of."

"It's alright, Umi, we understand the situation," Hanayo replied. "If anything, if you hadn't brought that up, we most likely would have."

"I see..." Umi hummed. "Still, there's something I'd like to ask."

"Go ahead, nya!" Rin chirped.

"Why did you ask me to teach you how to go from one emotion to another in a second?" the girl inquired, making Rin flinch. "That's not something you're going to use as an idol, you know?"

"I know, but..." Rin frowned and lowered her head. "Well, can I tell you a secret, nya?"

Umi nodded, and Rin looked elsewhere as she explained, "Ever since this whole mess started, and I started watching mystery shows to get a better idea on what I should do, I've only been smiling and feeling cheerful about it. Except for when Maki got kidnapped and tortured of course, but besides that, I've always had a smile on my face."

"And what's so bad about that?" Umi bluntly asked. "You give a glimmer of hope in an otherwise terrifying or hopeless situation."

"But It's not appropriate, nya," Rin answered, her smile slightly faltering. "While everybody else is disturbed and scared of what will happen, I just keep on smiling and... it feels wrong, somehow. Like I wasn't taking this seriously."

Umi took a deep breath, put a hand on Rin's shoulder, and answered:

"Rin, just because the whole situation's pretty serious, doesn't mean you have to change yourself in order to "fit in" or whatever. You're a cheerful person who lightens everybody up with your presence, and in a situation like this, someone like you is very much needed."

Rin's eyes shined with a vibrant glimmer of awe. "Umi..."

"That's exactly what I told her before," Hanayo said as she turned the page, then looked at the duo with a sly smile. "But then she told me, "but this is the perfect chance to get closer to Umi, nya!"

Rin immediately turned to Hanayo and chased after her as she ran around the room, giggling as Umi watched them run, too confused to really know what to do.

 ** _Back with Mako and the Ayases..._**

Even after the explanation Mako gave her, Eli had her arms folded as she shook her head, having trouble believing what she heard.

"Alisa's supposed to be studying overseas," Eli pointed out. "So how was she captured?!"

"I was only given the girls to "modify" them, I wasn't told how they got them," Mako sadly answered. "However, if you want me to give you a suggestion on how she was captured, perhaps the boss has some agents working overseas as well?"

"Actually, I got a phone message from Eli saying me that the date where I come visit her had gone earlier by a week," Alisa explained. "And Eli would never lie to me, so, I thought it was true, and took an airplane here."

"So, not only did my impostor try to hurt Nozomi, but she dragged my little sister into this too?!" then Eli realized something. "But wait, when did you arrive to Japan, Alisa?!"

"Same as you supposedly said, a week ago," the girl answered with a shrug. "However, I think I was kidnapped on my first night there."

Eli's eyes were obscured by her hair as she stood up, took a deep breath, and stated:

"A-Alisa, I'll be going home now."

And with loud stomps, Eli walked out of the house, with Alisa chasing after her soon afterwards. And now, Mako was left alone to think about what she had done.

"Looks like things are starting to look up."

The girl turned around and saw Mrs. Nishikino entering the room, before she sat where the Kosakas and the Ayases had sat on.

"M-Mrs. Nishikino..." Mako stuttered. "I'm... really sorry... and I know that nothing I could do could ever-"

"How about you stay at the guest room until Maki returns home, then see her tomorrow?" the woman suggested. "Apologizing to me is one thing, but what matters the most is that the real person that got hurt, Maki, is properly apologized to."

Mako's eyes widened. "Y-You'll... let me stay here? In fact, you'll let me see Maki at all, even after what I did?"

"From the sounds of it, you're as much of a victim as the other girls," Mrs. Nishikino answered with a smile before she stood up and walked to the girl. "And sure, I was angry with Honoka and Eli's sisters until I found out their real identity, but compared to them, I got a bit more reason to trust you, Mako."

Mako started shedding tears, before she hugged the woman and repeated "Thank you" as she clung to the woman's chest, with the mother returning the hug and patting Mako's back as she answered:

"But if you do anything to my Maki again, I'll make sure you regret it."

Mako felt a shiver down her spine. "Y-Yes, ma'am."


	10. Chapter 10

**Okay, here's the next chapter... nearly a dang month later. I really have no excuse, besides the fact that I haven't had that much inspiration in getting this story finished.**

 **That doesn't mean I'm cancelling it, we're only about five or six chapter away from the endgame, but I honestly think it may take a month to complete the next chapter, assuming I don't just procrastinate on it again.**

 **I want to apologize to all who have read this story and have been waiting patiently for the next chapter: You're the guys that give me the confidence to keep writing this, even if I don't get the feedback, so, thank you.**

 **But enough sentimentality! To the chapter!**

* * *

Next day, at the Nishikino Household, Maki ate her breakfast at the kitchen while her mother finished explaining what happened yesterday to her.

"So, the impostors who broke my arm turned out to be Honoka and Eli's younger sisters?" Maki asked, earning a remorseful nod from her mother. "It must've been quite a shock to find out."

"Yeah, especially after how I treated them," Mrs. Nishikino sighed. "I acted like a military sargeant towards them because I was so angry about what they did to you, but now, knowing that the girls were some of your friends' younger sisters... well, it doesn't change what they did, but I certainly feel bad for treating them like that."

"Hey, if it weren't for the impostor Nozomi, nobody would've found out their real identities," Maki answered as she took a sip of her orange juice. "Speaking of her, did you manage to ask her what her name was?"

"Oh, she actually revealed it on her own," Mrs. Nishikino answered as a certain someone walked down the staircase. "I think her name was-"

Maki, upon seeing who was walking down, nearly spat out her drink as she shouted:

"Mako Omine?!"

"Yeah, that's her!" Mrs. Nishikino chirped. "How did you guess?"

The woman turned around to see Mako herself finally reaching the lower floor, earning a deadpan "oh" from the woman.

"Hello, Maki," the girl nervously greeted as she clutched one of her arms. "It's been a long time, huh?"

Maki stood up, with the shock of seeing her old childhood friend right there, live and well, in front of her eyes. So much so, she practically stared at her for what seemed like a couple of minutes.

However, her shock was replaced with anger once she remember what she and her mother were talking about earlier, and she put two and two together, growling:

"You're with the impostors?!"

Mako took a step back, and looked elsewhere as she nodded with regret.

"Then what the heck do you want?! Why are you even here!?" Maki snapped at the girl, only to turn towards her mother a moment later. "In fact, where was she staying at until now?!"

"She was staying at the guest room, of course," Mrs. Nishikino answered. "You can't just expect me to leave a girl like her out in the streets, do you?"

"Mom, I know Mako and I used to be friends, but didn't you see what she just nodded to a moment ago?!" Maki growled, before she threw a glare at the teenager. "She's part of the impostors that made Nico collapse, broke my arm, and worst of all, has been plaguing Muse's days with fear of what they'll do next!"

"Maki, your friend came over here yesterday, revealed the true identities of the impostors, and says she wants to help you and your friends find the impostors, and give them their just desserts," Mrs. Nishikino replied. "Why can't you give her the benefit of the doubt, like your friends did?"

"Why do you act so different all of a sudden?!" Maki counterargued. "Why are you being so kind to one of the persons responsible for my broken arm, Nico's hospitalization, and Muse's unrest!?"

Then Maki glared at Mako and snapped:

"And you! I need to talk to you in private, come to my room!"

The redhead stomped her way upstairs, with Mako nervously following her until they were at the girl's bedroom. Once there, Maki slammed the door shut and faced Mako face-to-face.

"What do you have to say after everything that's happened so far?!" the redhead sternly question. "In fact, what could you possibly say that could convince me that you're not trying to play me and backstab me?!"

"I would never do something like that, Maki!" Mako answered, sounding genuinely disturbed. "Why would you even think I'd ever do that to you?!"

"Is it that hard to believe? I mean, so far, I can't believe that this is happening right now," Maki said as she rubbed her forehead. "I mean, we used to be the bestest of friends, Mako: We were always together, we always had each other's backs!"

Maki narrowed her eyes and glared sternly at the girl. "And now, the very first time I see you since we were young, you're working with the impostors who, as far as I know, are trying to ruin Muse for no reason!"

"They have a reason!" Mako retorted. "I don't know what it is, but they definitely do!"

Mako put a hand on Maki's shoulder as she explained:

"Look, I understand that you have very little reason to believe me, but I didn't join them willingly. The only reason I joined them, was because they told me that they were going to hurt you if I didn't! But now that I see that they hurt you anyway, I want to do everything in my power to help you and your friends get payback-!"

Maki narrowed her eyes and pushed Mako's arm away, asking with a solemn tone:

"And why should I trust you now?"

With nothing else to say, at least for the moment, Maki walked out of the room, leaving a distressed Mako behind as she fell on her knees and covered her mouth with her mouth.

 ** _Later, at the School..._**

Maki walked towards the entrance to the school, looking firmly ahead as several fellow students watched her and gossiped among each other:

" _Isn't that Maki Nishikino from Muse?_ "

" _I heard she got into a fight with the other members, and that's why she has a broken arm._ "

" _No, I read in the news that she was assaulted by some impostors, and they broke her arm!_ "

Maki quickly shrugged off the comments, which only got on her nerves as she went inside and stomped her way to her classroom. Once there, she sat down on her desk, and quickly got prepared for class, only to hear someone ask:

"Maki?"

The girl immediately snapped a stern look at the person, only to take it back when she saw the person was a peculiar, very sensititve classmate:

Riko Sakurauchi.

"Oh, sorry, Riko, I didn't mean to glare at you," Maki sighed, rubbing her forehead with her good arm. "It's just that, something happened today that's made my blood boil! And please, don't ask about it, I'm not answering you."

"O-Okay, I'm not going to ask," Riko answered as she sat on her desk. "I wasn't even going to ask you about that either, I was just going to ask you what happened to your arm."

"Right, because of rumors and such," Maki sighed. "Well, I acted stupid and got cornered by impostors of Rin and Hanayo, who broke one of my arms, along with other unpleasant things."

"I see," Riko sighed and looked at the ceiling. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"Hey, at the very least, it could be much worse," Maki scratched her chin. "So, what's on your end, Riko? Got any news?"

"Well, Mom's been talking to me to transfer school, she's been filling the paperwork and everything, too," Riko sighed as she twiddled her fingers. "And I get the feeling that, no matter what happens, I'll be leaving school by the end of this semester."

"Tell you what, Riko, you should go through with the transfer," Maki answered with a calm tone. "With the impersonations of not only affecting Muse, but also other innocent girls, I think it might just be a matter of time before you're impersonated too."

Riko flinched, almost tipping over her desk, and herself with it. "You mean it?!"

"C-Calm down, it's just a possibility!" the redhead told the panicky girl. "What I'm trying to say, please go through with the transfer, for your own safety."

Riko frowned. "But what about _your_ safety, Maki? I mean, you already have a broken arm, who knows what else could be broken if you stay here?"

Maki took a deep breath, and while she looked over at the window, she answered:

"Sooner or later, I may have to transfer too, but, I just can't leave everybody at Muse behind. They've been victims just like me, and I feel like, as long as these impersonations continue, we need to stand together."

Maki then turned back to Riko and shrugged. "After all, Muse is the greatest thing to ever happen in my life. Why would I abandon them just like that?"

Riko smiled, and with a glint in her eyes, replied:

"Maki..."

 ** _Meanwhile, at the Principal's Office..._**

"Yes... Uh huh... Understood... I understand, Mr. and Mrs. Sakurauchi, I wish your daughter a better time at Uranohoshi Girls' High School."

Those were the words that sent a shiver down Kotori, Umi, and Honoka's spines as the principal finished yet another phone call.

"That's the seventh student transferring to another school," Principal Minami solemnly remarked as she turned to face the trio. "At this rate, there will barely be any students left by the end of this semester."

"I never thought the impersonations would cause this much damage," Umi remarked, folding her arms. "I mean, I knew news about them would spread fast, but not to the point they would start hurting the school's reputation as well."

"Still, I can't believe our school's the only one being affected like this!" Kotori said. "Is there really no other school in the area suffering from impersonations?!"

"No, it's quite common that any up and coming idol group will have impersonators," Principal Minami folded her arms. "However, Muse is the only idol group whose impersonators have decided to get violent and physical with their counterparts."

"And since Muse is mostly centered on Otonokizaka High School, people then assume that the school is dangerous or something?" Umi guessed, sighing as she added, "As much as I hate to say it, it makes sense."

Suddenly, the phone rang again, and believing it was yet another parent informing the school that their daughter would transfer schools, Principal Minami answered with a deadpan "hello?"

"Muse isn't the only idol group being impersonated."

Upon hearing that, Principal Minami's eyes opened wide. "Who's calling?"

"Tsubasa Kira, from A-RISE," the girl answered from the other end, while her fellow idols were apprehending her impostor. "We were coming back from one of our live shows when we found an impersonator getting ready to pose as me. So, while Erena and Anju were dealing with her, I thought I would call you to let you know about it."

Then the girl realized the possibility she might've missed the cue. "I wasn't too late, was I?"

"Principal Minami, can you hand us the phone for a moment?" Honoka asked, earning a nod from the woman as she handed the phone. "Hello? Tsubasa?"

"Honoka, it's good to hear you again," Tsubasa answered, gaining a concerned smile as she asked, "Please, tell me the situation hasn't gotten too bad with Muse since the impersonations."

"I wish I could say it was doing well, but since the impersonation fiasco, some of Muse's fans, particularly Maki and Nico's fans and haters, have gotten quite vocal about their opinion," Honoka answered, while Umi and Kotori sadly nodded in agreement. "Not only that, but the school's gotten a bad reputation too. So much so, in fact, that some of our classmates are transferring at the end of this semester!"

Tsubasa frowned. "Yikes, and here I was hoping that things would be better on your end."

"Well, the good news is, one of the impostors actually decided to help us put an end to all of this," the redhead said with a hopeful tone. "We'll soon think up a plan in order to infiltrate the impostors' base."

"What a coincidence," Tsubasa eyed the impostor. "Me and the girls were thinking about the same thing. Although, of course, there might be the need for some negotiation first."

"Well, I wish you good luck with that," Honoka answered with a smile. "I gotta go, bye."

Tsubasa nodded. "Goodbye, Honoka."

The girl hung up the phone, and it took a couple seconds before the situation registered.

"A-RISE have been impersonated too?!" Kotori exclaimed as she took a step back. "But wait, that means the other idol groups are going to be targeted too!"

"Then I believe it's a good time we got Mrs. Omine on our side," Principal Minami pointed out. "She said she had a plan to help us reach the organization she used to work for, right?"

"Yeah, she did, but she's been acting a little weird since this morning," Kotori answered, scratching the back of her head. "Almost like she saw a ghost or something. And worst part of it is, she won't tell us what's bothering her!"

"Well, whatever it is, it'll have to wait," Principal Minami replied. "For now, tell her to go to your clubroom, and formulate a plan to enter the organization."

The trio nodded and left, with the principal lowering her head and narrowing her eyes once the girls were out of sight.

 ** _Later, at the Clubroom..._**

Maki entered the clubroom, where she saw the remaining available members of Muse sitting in the table, ready to discuss Mako's plan.

And Mako, who wound up being the target of Maki's seemingly murderous glare.

"What. Is _she_ -" Maki pointed at Mako. "Doing here?"

"Elementary, my dear Maki," Rin remarked as she rested her chin on the back of her palms, trying her hardest to look cold and calculating. "She's here to help us formulate a plan in order to infiltrate the impostors' headquarters, and expose them for the copycats that they are."

"Okay, that's one thing!" Maki remarked. "But It's another thing that you're letting her sit down right in that chair!"

"Oh right, that's Nico's seat, isn't it?" Hanayo remarked. "I did have a feeling there was something interesting about that seat-"

"Yeah, it is! And even if it wasn't, how can you be so comfortable with her being around us like this?!" the redhead snapped. "Do you seriously believe she's sorry for what she did!"

"Does Mako show remorse for what she's been doing up until now?" Honoka asked with a matter-of-factly tone. "I think that's the most important thing you should consider before writing her off as a traitor."

Maki flinched as she asked, "Are you out of your mind!? Why are you taking _her_ side!?"

"We're not taking sides, Maki, we're just trying to reach a non-violent conclusion to this issue," Kotori explained with a worried look. "After all, you've never been this agressive towards anybody before."

"Yeah, whenever one of us annoyed you, the most you would do is yell at us or act like the typical tsundere, nya," Rin pointed out. "But now, you seem to be especially violent over the idea of your former friend helping us."

Maki gritted her teeth and narrowed her eyes, scaring Rin into shutting up, but not Honoka, who stood her ground as she asked once more:

"Maki, did Mako seem genuinely sorry for what she did?"

The redhead was left genuinely stunned at the inquiry, so much so that, after failing to come up with an answer, she stomped out of the room and slammed the door shut.

"You guys talk about the plan," Eli sighed as she stood up. "I'll go talk to her, and see if I can reason with her."

Everybody nodded, and the blonde idol left the room and walked to Maki, who was sitting on a corner nearby.

.

.

.

"Maki, sometime ago, when we were walking down to the station, I said something to you when you seemed to be feeling down," Eli told the redhead. "Do you remember what I told you?"

The redhead, remembering the blonde's words, looked elsewhere and answered, "To wait, 'cause things would get better."

"Yeah, and guess what? Things _have_ been getting better," Eli replied as she patted Maki's back. "The impostors that hurt you have been dealt with, we got a new ally on our side with a connection to the impostors, and soon enough, we'll go to their base or whatever, and give them a piece of their mind!"

Maki lowered her eyelids and her head. "I just think that asking me to trust one of the impostors, especially the one responsible for the impostors that broke my arm, is unreasonable."

"You're not wrong, but everybody has to make sacrifices in order to make progress," Eli wrapped her arm around Maki's shoulder. "Give Mako some time. I'm sure that eventually, you'll find it in yourself to forgive her."

And, with one last pat in the

 ** _Next day..._**

Principal Minami, as well as Mrs. Nishikino, drove the girls towards the headquarters of the impostors, whose direction was provided by Mako. Principal Minami drove Honoka, Kotori, Umi, Hanayo, and Mrs. Nishikino drove Mako, Maki, Eli, and Rin.

"Okay, so, to recap: The impostor Umi I "modified" hasn't returned yet, so there's a chance nobody knows of my betrayal," Mako said as she put on her wig and colored contacts. "However, I can't go to the organization as myself, and neither can you-"

"Oh no, we didn't think about that!" Eli said. "We didn't bring any disguises!"

"Relax, I got a plan," Mako said as she used a mirror to fix any smaller details of her disguise. "You're all going to act like girls I modified because I was worried for lack of impersonators."

"How many impostors are inside anyway, nya?" Rin inquired.

"Many, but the majority have a hard time not getting arrested or keeping themselves out of trouble," the brunette answered. "So, I'm sure they'll buy the excuse."

Then, Mako took a moment to say:

"Before we enter, I just would like to ask you to prepare for the worst: What you're about to see might be the most shocking stuff you've seen in your life."

"Jokes on you, nothing will beat the shock of seeing Hanayo and Nico fight each other to the death for tickets to A-RISE's show," Rin scoffed, earning a confused look from Eli.

Maki, meanwhile, was unimpressed with this revelation. "So that's the reason why those two had black eyes for a week."

Once at the organization, the girls came out of the cars-with the principal and Maki's Mom remaining behind-and they walked to the entrance, where they got a little surprise:

The duo of Not-Honoka and Not-Kotori, guarding the door.

"State your name and business here," Not-Honoka stated.

"Nozomi Tojo," Mako stated. "I've come with a group fresh candidates for modification, and one injured Maki impostor to treat her wounds."

The duo took a closer look at the group, and after exchanging a look, they moved away and allowed the girls to walk into the building, with Not-Kotori watching the girls until they were out of view.

"Is it just me, or did the Maki impostor look suspiciously like the real Maki?" she inquired.

Not-Honoka shrugged with a hint of disinterest. "Isn't that the idea?"

With the hard part seemingly dealt with, the girls followed Mako deeper into the organization, spotting various impostors inside rooms until they came across a particularly disturbing room: One filled with several impostors of the A-RISE trio...

Along with one "one" trio that was waving hello at them.

"There really are impostors for A-RISE too," Honoka said as she took a closer look at the girls. "Not only for Tsubasa, but for Erena and Anju as well."

"To think whoever's behind this would try to impersonate them too," Kotori said with a concerned look. "And not only that, but they even have backups for the impostors, too-"

Suddenly, however, the fake A-RISE members backed into a wall, with the girls soon seeing why when they turned around, and saw Hanayo glaring at the girls with the most deadly look she had been seen with since...

Actually, it was probably the first time she had that look on her face in general!

"C-Calm down, Hanayo!" Maki told the girl, getting her attention. "Once we shut this place down, I'm sure the A-RISE impostors will return to their former lives, so please calm down, okay?"

Hanayo took several deep breaths, slowly calming down until she took a massive deep breath, then stated:

"Fine, let's go."

The girls nodded and continued on their way, until they reached a wide room that seemed to be in the middle of the organization. At least, the wide and vast nature of the room gave off that idea.

"Well, look who we got here!"

A light turned on at the top of the room, revealing not only a balcony, but an impostor standing on it.

The impostor being that of Nico Yazawa, with green eyes.

"An impostor Nico!" Honoka exclaimed.

"Hah, I knew it, nya!" Rin chirped, raising her fists victoriously. "I mean, I thought she would appear right at the end of everything, but I was right nonetheless."

"Mako Omine, oh dear old Mako," Not-Nico said with a friendly giggle, only to suddenly add with a threatening tone, "Just what kind of a fucking fool do you take me for!?"

The members of Muse gasped. "She swore!"

"The real Nico would never swear!" Hanayo exclaimed, only to turn to Maki. "She never did, right?"

"Well, she never swore while I was present," Maki shrugged. "But whatever, that doesn't matter right now: What matters is that we have the mastermind behind this entire mess!"

"Whoa, jumping to conclusions, aren't we?" Not-Nico replied with a sly smirk. "What, do you think that just because you encountered an impostor of the very first victim of this whole mess, you think I'm the head of this operation?"

"Wait, she could be right, nya!" Rin remarked, suddenly getting an idea. "Surely she's just a decoy in order to throw us off from the real boss of this whole mess, isn't it!? You're nothing more than a red herring!"

"What? Oh no, I really am the head of this operation," Not-Nico smirked. "I just wanted to fuck with you."

Rin gritted her teeth. "I hate her already."

"We all do," Honoka stated, with the rest of Muse nodding in agreement as she added, "Now then, since we're here, how about you give us an explanation for this stupid plan of yours? What are you even hoping to accomplish with this?!"

"Isn't it obvious? I want to break, and maybe destroy, Muse, A-RISE, and every other popular idol group before they continue to plague the population with a fake ideal image of idols," "The world is ignorant enough as it is: Feeding a highly romanticized version of the real idol business to the public is taking things too far!"

"But impersonating people isn't taking things too far? Sending a pair of girls to the hospital isn't taking things too far? Putting our school in danger yet again, after we tried so hard last year to keep it open, isn't taking things too far?!" Eli questioned sternly, clenching her fists as she took a step forward. "Kidnapping our sisters, our own family, in order to drag them into your sick scheme isn't taking things too far!?"

"No, no, no, and certainly no: They're all nothing more than necessary sacrifices in order to accomplish my goal," Not-Nico bluntly answered. "And besides, it's not like you even care about the right people being impersonated."

Then, Not-Nico turned to look at Mako. "After all, don't you feel like someone's missing, Nozomi?"

Mako's eyes widened. "What did you do to Nozomi?!"

Not-Nico giggled and snapped her fingers, summoning the girl at once, and revealing Nozomi to her horrified partners:

Though she moved in all fours at first, the girl quickly got back on two legs, though she had slight difficulty standing up. Her hair was messier than it had ever been, with the ends splitting into wild spike-like threads. Her eyes had diluted down to the size of a pupil, making her look deranged.

Finally, what was once a motherly smile now looked like the very last semblance of Nozomi trying to hold onto her old self, while she was consumed by madness.

"I put her through the test to see if she could handle the harsh reality," Not-Nico answered, folding her arms. "And sadly, she just kept breaking."

Eli narrowed her eyes and gritted her teeth.

"She cried and cried as she was shown the true, cruel reality of idolhood," Not-Nico answered as she walked towards Nozomi, whose demented smile faltered. "As she was beaten, as she was abused, and as she was..."

Not-Nico looked at Nozomi with a perverted look and reached for her breast. "Well, let me show you."

Not-Nico groped Nozomi as hard as she could, and the insane girl actually flinched and backed away until she the wall, whimpering like a puppy as she curled up. This sight gave the girls a pretty good idea of just how far this fake Nico's dangerous nature went.

"You did _that_ to her?!" Eli snapped, stomping the ground and clenching her fists. "First you kidnap our sisters, and then you do _that_ to one of our friends!?"

"Why am I not surprised that what I did to your friend, would mean less to you than the fact I "kidnapped" your sisters, as you say?" Not-Nico answered, shaking her head in disapproval. "But I'm afraid you're wrong: I didn't kidnap them, all I did was twist the truth to them so they would be easier to convince to join my cause."

"That's even worse than if you had just kidnapped them!" Honoka snapped, gritting her teeth. "And also, just how many girls did you kidnap!?"

"So that's something you think is worth asking?" Not-Nico snickered. "You took a look around, didn't you? Tell me, how many Honokas, Umis, and any other member of Muse did you see?"

Honoka's eyes widened at the implication. "You're a monster!"

"Perhaps, but I'm the worst kind of monster: The kind that's ultimately right in the end," Not-Nico glared at the girls. "You, meanwhile, are nothing more than dead women walking."

Not-Nico snapped her fingers, getting Nozomi's attention as she barked:

"Cataclysm Tsunami, get rid of them!"

Nozomi leaped off the balcony and landed on all four, baring her teeth as the girls immediately ran away, screaming as they did.

And so, Not-Nico smirked before she jumped off the balcony and followed them, enjoying the sight of Muse running for their lives...


	11. Chapter 11

**And now, after a billion years, here's the next chapter of Shocked. Only five chapters left before the story is complete, so... Around 2020 or 2021, basically XD**

 **Speaking seriously, the laptop I used to write my stories with was returned, the phone I could use is used by my sister most of the time, so yeah, things are going to slow down for a bit.**

 **But nonetheless, I hope you what remains of this story nonetheless, I assure you I'll try to make it good, no matter what.**

 **And now, to the chapter!**

* * *

Back where we left off, Nozomi, defined by Not-Nico as "Cataclysm Tsunami" now, continued to chase after the idols of Muse and Mako Omine, her former impersonator, as they ran down the hallways of the organization.

However, as they ran, Mako, Maki, and Honoka noticed something: They hadn't seen the rooms with the other impostors around.

"H-Hey, wasn't there some rooms with some impostors inside them around here?" Honoka asked as she looked around. "Where did they go?!"

"Maybe they suddenly disappeared, potentially suggesting they were never there in the first place, nya!" Rin suggested. "Either that, or they were hidden to avoid getting their help."

"No, they didn't disappear, nor were they hidden, that's just ridiculous," Mako stated, getting everybody's attention. "It's more likely that in our panic, we went through a wrong path that leads us away from the exit!"

"Great, good to know!" Maki rolled her eyes. "Do you know where are we heading?"

"If I knew that, I would be leading us to the paths that guide us back to the exit!" Mako answered. "Only thing I do know is that if we stop now, Nozomi's probably going to trash us!"

"Great! That's good to know!" Maki growled.

And as the members of Muse continued to run, they eventually entered a room just as another group came out in the open, and ran from the way they came from.

This group being none other than A-RISE.

"Do you think it's such a good idea to try and confront the person responsible for everything?" Erena inquired. "I mean, we could be helping Muse try to survive-"

"Even if we could help them, there's not much we could do," Tsubasa answered, focusing solely on the road in front of them. "Besides, I can't be the only one wishing for that damn brat to explain herself!"

The other two members exchanged looks, and before long, the trio found themselves in the spot Muse went to before, where they met Not-Nico.

"Huh, if it isn't the members of A-RISE," Not-Nico remarked with a smile. "What a surprise to see you here."

"R-Right, Mrs... um..." Tsubasa said, trying to keep up the illusion the group were impostors. "What's your name again, miss?"

"Don't even bother acting like your impostors," Not-Nico stated, her smile unfaltering. "It's clear from the fact you're not shivering or pissing yourselves in terror, that you're the real deal."

Not-Nico flashed a sadistic smirk, and jumped from the balcony to the ground, landing right on her feet as the Idol group slightly backed away.

"But that's not a problem, darlings!"

Not-Nico reached for her back, and took out a whip. A spiked whip, in fact!

"I'll be the source of your nightmares soon enough!"

"W-Wait! We didn't come here to pick a fight with you!" Anju exclaimed. "W-We just want to ask you

"Hahaha! People always called you veteran idols, but now you reveal your true, amateurish selves!" Not-Nico cackled, cracking her whip. "Believing that everything can be resolved just by talking can only take you so long, children!"

A-RISE braced for what was about to come next.

 ** _Meanwhile, with Muse..._**

The girls and Mako stood in the room they hid in, looking flabbergasted at what they were seeing: Several pillows around, and some impostors engaging in pillow fights, barely paying attention to the newcomers.

"A pillow fight room? Really?!" Umi said as she grabbed the pillow and threw it away angrily, hitting an impostor in the process. "I can understand if there was a room to practice dancing or singing, but for what practical reason would there need to be a pillow fight room?!"

"It's a training room for Umis," Mako answered. "The boss heard about your incredible strength involving pillow fights, so she decided to incorporate that to the impostors' traits."

"Of all the things she could try to weaponize, she chose my pillow fighting skills?" Umi sighed. "Now instead of angry, I'm just disappointed in her."

"It's okay," Mako patted Umi's back. "Everybody feels like that once in their lives."

The girl, however, glared at her and threw a pillow at her face, with Mako dodging at the last second... and causing Nozomi to be the one to be hit right in the face, with enough force to send her flying off into a wall.

Nozomi slid down soon after, however, and not only did she stand up as if nothing happened, but she turned around, her demented look not faltering despite the strike.

"W-What?! That's impossible!" Umi exclaimed. "I put all my strength in that throw!"

"That was all you could muster?"

Muse flinched as they got a clear view of who said that: Nozomi, who grabbed the pillow and puffed it as she added:

"Well then, dear Umi. I can't tell what's worse: The fact that you thought this would be enough to put me down, or the fact that you've lost your touch."

"Wait a minute, you can talk?!" Eli exclaimed. "Then what was up with the silent dog-like behavior before?!"

"You try to not act like an animal after you just got out of a torture that lasted hours!" Nozomi snapped, only to calm down and add, with a motherly tone. "But, luckily, it seems the heavy hit you gave me recovered my senses somehow. So, I thank you for that, sweetheart!"

Nozomi smiled wide. "I think you need a reward."

Immediately recognizing malicious intent behind the statement, Eli and the girls backed away a little.

"Um, d-d-don't worry about it, Nozomi!" Eli remarked with a nervous smile. "I-I mean, what are friends for, right? Y-You don't need to give me anything-"

"Oh no, darling, I insist that you get something for bringing back my sanity," Nozomi hummed. "I know! How about we play a little game?"

Nozomi then threw the pillow without enough force to not only send it flying faster than the girls could notice, but also basically destroy the wall it collided with, causing the impostors around to turn to face Nozomi as she proclaimed:

"First one who drops dead, loses!"

The impostors fled in terror as Nozomi cackled like a maniac and grabbed more pillows.

"Okay, we need to go, now!" Mako stated. "Through the wall Nozomi just created!"

Muse and Mako ran as fast as they could through the wall, barely missing another pillow projectile thrown by Nozomi. They continued to run through the rooms, with the girls also throwing some objects and furniture in the room, hoping that could stop Nozomi as they went through a door and slammed it shut.

From the sounds they could hear outside until Nozomi outright hit the door, these obstacles barely stopped her.

"Is there nothing that can stop her?!" Kotori exclaimed.

"I don't think so, she's like the perfect combination between a bear, a tiger, and the mailman, nya!" Rin stated with a horrified look. "A beast that hits like a truck, runs like a speeding train, and never gets tired!"

"Okay, I can understand why you'd include a cheetah and a bear in the combination," Hanayo remarked. "But why throw the mailman into the mix?"

"'Cause he never gets tired even when a bunch of dogs run after him," Rin answered with a little smile. "I see that happen every day, and it never gets old."

Suddenly, Nozomi's fist burst through the door, and as the girl put her whole arm inside and tried to reach the doorknob, the members of Muse backed away.

"Is this really the end?" Honoka asked, hugging Kotori fearfully. "Are we really going to be killed by one of our own friends?"

"No, you're not," Mako stated, taking a couple steps forward. "But I am."

Mako stood in front of the door as the girls processed what she said.

"W-What are you talking about, Mako?" Maki inquired.

"I helped with kidnapping her, I modified several girls to impersonate people, including your sisters, I made you think I was her, and I shoved Umi into a locker before my sense came back to me," Mako recapped.

Umi folded her arms and narrowed her eyes at the last point, clearly still bitter about it.

"There's a chance for all of you to escape, and that's if I buy you enough time to find the exit to this accursed place."

"But then," Eli said, realizing something. "That would mean you..."

Mako nodded to confirm her suspicions.

"Mako, we can't leave without you!" Honoka stated, taking a step forward. "We only got here thanks to you! Sure, you just provided directions, but still!"

"And you're only going to get out if I stay here and keep Nozomi occupied!" Mako stated. "I know the risk involved, but there's no other way."

"But-!"

Mako walked towards the person who said that, who wasn't Honoka, or anybody else: In fact, the one who said that was Maki, who flinched and remained silent as Mako put a hand on her shoulder and said:

"Listen, ever since this mess started, I've done nothing but make the situation worse. And worst of all, one of the dearest persons in my life got hurt because of that. Please, give me this chance to redeem myself."

Maki lowered her eyelids, nodded, then joined the rest of Muse as they headed for the exit, with the redhead taking one last glance at the brunette before she left.

And moments after they were gone, Nozomi managed to get through the door and took a look around, deliberately ignoring Mako, until she asked:

"Where did the rest of Muse go?"

"Where you won't find them, hopefully," Mako answered sternly. "And furthermore, your problem is with me now."

"Oh really? So you stayed behind to stall for time, while they continued looking for the exit?" Nozomi snickered. "Are you sure it was as noble as it seemed?"

Mako raised an eyebrow.

"Muse is one of the many idol groups, who live under a heavily, unhealthily romanticized version of idolhood," Nozomi explained as she leaned closer to the girl. "And in that idolhood, everybody always stays together, no matter what."

Once they were face-to-face, Mako maintained a serious look as Nozomi smirked:

"And yet here we are, you and me, all alone. Muse didn't follow that ideology, did they? No, they abandoned you to save their butts, right? Your little "sacrifice" was done for nothing: How do you know if they'll remember it, especially after everything this group, and by proxy you, have done to them?"

Mako promptly slapped Nozomi as hard as she could, proclaiming:

"They didn't abandon me, I told them to go ahead! And even if they don't come back for me, so what?! As long as they get out of here, they'll find a way to shut this whole madness down once and for all!"

"I see," Nozomi said as she slowly turned back to the brunette.

Then she punched the brunette hard enough to send her flying into a wall, saying:

"Too bad you won't live to see Idolon's downfall."

 ** _Back with A-RISE and the fake Nico..._**

The idol trio continued to run away from the crazed impostor, dodging her whip whenever she struck, until they landed at a large room that looked like the room of A-RISE's hotel.

"Wait, this place looks exactly like the hotel we were staying at earlier!" Erena remarked, looking at Not-Nico with shock as she asked, "When did you make this?!"

"Oh, trust me," Not-Nico cracked her whip. "I've had more than enough time to create every possible location you'd visit, past and present."

A-RISE collectively gulped.

"Listen, we can't forgive you for what you've done, but we at least want to try talking to you," Tsubasa said as she slowly walked towards Not-Nico. "You said you're doing this for the sake of all idols, what did you-"

Not-Nico cracked the whip, prompting A-RISE to back away as she explained:

"Everybody goes on and on about how being an idol is amazing: You sing to your heart's content, have fun with friends, but that is but a blatant farce that hides the business' darker, real side!"

A-RISE exchanged confused looks.

"What are you talking about?" Tsubasa asked.

"What am I talking about? Think about it: In a world as corrupted as ours, idolhood is something that's not like the romanticized version seen in fiction," Not-Nico answered. "Get too old, and you're kicked out without a chance to prove you still have hope in you. Start too young, and you get the entirely wrong audience cheering for you!"

Not-Nico hugged herself and shivered. "And worst of all, when you're not performing on a stage concert or something like that, you're trying to fulfill the desires of older people, just to try get enough money to survive until the next day!"

Erena frowned. "Hey, do you think she's speaking from personal experience?"

"She has to be," Tsubasa answered with a nod. "Her explanation was way too specific to be just a coincidence."

"Even if what you say is true, going this far just to force everybody to feel what you felt is inexcusable!" Anju exclaimed. "Besides, times have changed!"

Not-Nico cracked her whip. "I've had enough of your nonsense!"

The girl flinched, and hid behind Tsubasa.

"If you refuse to accept reality by will," Not-Nico prepared to use her whip again. "Then you will accept it by force!"

One swing of her whip, however, and Not-Nico gave A-RISE the perfect chance to grab it, pull it away, then run past the impostor, leaving her in the room as they headed deeper into the organization.

Not-Nico, however, didn't seem particularly upset, as she got up, dusted herself, and saw the way A-RISE had gone through before she left as well.

 ** _Back with Nozomi and Mako..._**

The latter wasn't having the best time fighting the former: She threw a couple punches at the crazed idol, only for her to dodge the strikes and then grab her arms before she pinned her against a wall and began repeatedly kneeing her in the gut.

The kneeing continued for a while until Nozomi pulled her forward, then downwards before kneeing her right in the face, causing some of her teeth to fall out.

"You know, I'm kinda that your resistance and resolve as vastly different," Nozomi scoffed as Mako lifted her head, flashing a furious glare. "Now, how about you actually put some effort into this?"

Mako headbutted Nozomi... and the idol didn't even flinch.

"Nice try."

Nozomi released one of Mako's hands. "Now, try punching again."

Mako desperately began throwing punch after punch everywhere in Nozomi's body: Her waist, her stomach, even her breasts, but none of them did effect besides the breasts, and even then Nozomi seemed more shocked than injured.

Finally, Mako punched Nozomi in the face... and got a murderous glare from the girl before she was lifted, then thrown across the room and into the hallway from the start.

Gasping for air, Mako opened one of her eyes and saw Nozomi slowly walking towards her, saying:

"You did a nice job amusing me: You even managed to get my friends out of harm's way. It's just so sad you couldn't have the same luck."

Mako closed her eyes, and thought as Nozomi's shadow loomed over her:

" _Well, I guess this is where it ends. And how fitting it is that the one who's going to kill me..._ "

Nozomi cracked her knuckles.

" _Is none other than the one I impersonated._ "

Just before she could pummel the brunette to death, however, Nozomi was struck by a stun gun, electrocuting her unconscious as a voice exclaimed:

"Stay away from her, you Holstein!"

With that statement, Mako slowly opened her eyes.

"Maki?"

However, once she opened her eyes, Mako saw the one who saved her wasn't Maki, but the members of A-RISE.

"A-RISE?!" Mako exclaimed as Erena helped her get up. "How did you know I needed help? In fact, how did you-"

"No time for questions!" Tsubasa stated, keeping a close eye on Nozomi. "We're taking you and Nozomi out of this place!"

Erena turned to Mako. "Please tell us you know how to get out of here."

"O-Of course," Mako answered. "Now, just follow my lead, and don't stop, who knows what other insanity we're going to see here..."

 ** _Back Outside..._**

Muse ran out of the door, with Not-Honoka and Not-Kotori luckily sleeping as they did. They didn't even wake up as the girls loudly screamed and headed for the car.

"Huh, looks like our impostors have a heavy sleep, nya." Rin remarked.

"Less witty remarks, more getting out of here!" Umi shouted.

So, the girls parted and entered both cars, where in they were met with the same question:

"Where's Mako?"

"Mom, Mako remained behind to give us time to escape," Maki answered.

"And we also found out who's behind the impostors!" Kotori told her mother. "It's another impostor: One of Nico!"

"You mean their first target?" Principal Minami asked, before she scratched her chin in thought. "So the one behind everything decided to impersonate their first victim? Interesting."

"Wait," Mrs. Nishikino uttered, remembering someone. "Where's Mako?!"

The girls in the Nishikino car exchanged concerned looks until they reached Maki, who looked away from her mother as she stuttered:

"M-Mako... Mako is-"

"She's here!"

Everybody turned to look at Rin pointing at a group heading towards them, this group being A-RISE, alongside the injured Mako and unconscious Nozomi.

"Wait, A-RISE was inside?!" Hanayo asked with shock. "Do you think they were the impostor trio that waved to us?"

"That doesn't matter!" Kotori said before she turned to the trio. "Come, quick!"

A-RISE reached the car and Erena and Anju put Mako and Nozomi on the passengers seats as Tsubasa told the women:

"Drive out of here as fast as you can! We'll catch up with you later!"

The women nodded, and with Mako and Nozomi inside the cars, both vehicles drove off as fast as they could, while A-RISE hid behind some bushes as Not-Honoka and Not-Kotori woke up, and feeling something was amiss, went inside the building.

 ** _Meanwhile, back with Not-Nico..._**

The green-eyed impostor sat on a chair in front of some monitors when Not-Honoka and Not-Kotori barged into the room.

"Nico, we felt something happening!" Not-Honoka exclaimed. "Is Cataclysm Tsunami doing fine?! Did she perform as expected?!"

"No, I'm afraid she failed," Not-Nico said without a care in the world. "She was tazed by A-RISE and taken out of here along with the Notzomi traitor."

"A-RISE was here?!" Not-Kotori exclaimed, sounding slightly excited.

"Cataclysm Tsunami has been captured?!" Not-Honoka stated, not sounding excited at all. "We need to send a group of scouts after her-!"

"No, leave her alone," Not-Nico answered, waving her hand in a dismissive manner. "She was nothing more than a prototype and a little playtime toy, anyway."

Not-Nico sat down and crossed her legs.

"As long as we have everything ready for the next Love Live, it doesn't matter if we lost another impostor."

Not-Nico pushed a button, and it showed a countdown timer until the next Love Live began, causing the impostor to smirk with delight.


	12. Chapter 12

**After an equally long wait, here's the next chapter of "Shocked."**

 **Not much else to say about this, other than I think there's only three chapters left before the story ends.**

 **Anyway, to the chapter!**

* * *

Mako slowly opened her eyes, with her blurry vision quickly clearing up to show her she was no longer at the organization, or Maki's house, or... really, any place she recognized.

"Where... am I?" she asked as she looked around.

"You're in the hospital, silly."

The girl promptly turned around and saw the girl next to her was none other than Nico, who smiled as she said:

"My name is Nico Yazawa, and I'm your roommate."

"N-Nico?" Mako repeated, her eyes widening as she realized what the name meant. "S-So, you're Maki's partner in Otonokizaka High School?"

"Well, since we're nine, Muse's split into three teams of three, so Maki and I aren't the whole team," Nico answered with a chuckle. "But, in terms of relationships, yeah, we share a strong bond. I guess you could say we're partners."

"I-I see..." Mako looked back at the ceiling. "I'm happy Maki has a friend like you."

"And I'm happy she had someone to call a friend before coming to Muse," Nico sighed. "To be honest with you, I thought that she was completely friendless until she joined the idol group: I never saw her with other students, and her personality, at least at first, didn't make it seem like she was one to just up and strike a conversation."

Mako rolled her eyes. "Well, Maki has always been the reserved kind of girl."

The duo shared a laugh that lasted for a few seconds, before they both calmed down, and Nico frowned, saying:

"You know, the original purpose of creating Muse was to stop our high school from closing down. You know, because of the declining birth rate and several other factors."

"Yeah, I heard about that," Mako sighed. "I also heard that the building itself wasn't in the best state when the group was formed."

"And you know what's more stressful and frustrating than forming a group who have little experience, all to save your school?" Nico asked, answering before Mako had a chance to even guess, "To have the school face the exact same trouble around a year later, when you thought things were safe for now."

Mako's eyes widened. "W-Wait, Otonokizaka is in danger of closing again?!"

"No, but I've heard that students are being transferred from there to other schools, and the impersonations has also given it bad rep," Nico shook her head. "So, I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up with the same problem it had over a year ago."

"Ugh, dang it."

Hearing Mako say those words caught Nico's attention, which made her look at the girl as she then asked:

"Mako, how would you feel if Otonokizaka were to shut down? Do you think you'd have Maki by your side?"

"No, I wouldn't, not knowing that I helped things get so bad," Mako sighed. "If the school were to shut down, I don't think Maki would ever talk to me again."

Then, the brunette chuckled. "You heard what I said, right? A bunch of girls are going to lose their education, several adults are going to lose their jobs, and the one thing I'm most worried about is whether Maki will talk to me again or not. I'm pathetic, aren't I?"

"You could say that," Nico shrugged. "But as far as I know, you didn't neglect your own friend's feelings just to satisfy your own dreams."

Mako's eyes widened and she turned to look at Nico as the girl added:

"And thus, they didn't tell you to your face that they were done with your nonsense, and then left you all alone to wallow in your grief as you realized your mistake."

"Nico..."

"But, there's a good thing in all of this," the idol remarked. "And that is the fact that your mistake still hasn't blown up completely in your face: You can still help make things right, and stop the school from shutting down."

Nico gave the girl a thumbs up. "And one way or another, if it becomes necessary, I'll help you with that too."

"You're right..." Mako smiled with hope for a moment, before she frowned as she realized, "But we're both currently hospitalized, so, who knows if we'll have enough time by the time we get out of here?"

Nico raised an eyebrow. "Well, when does your boss' plan actually begin?"

Mako fell silent, almost as if she knew the answer, but was too worried about Nico's reaction to tell her...

 _ **Meanwhile, with Yukiho and Alisa...**_

The younger sisters of Honaka and Eli walked together down the streets, heading for the Kosaka household so Yukiho could confront her impostor.

"I can't believe a pair of girls impersonated us," Alisa remarked as she sighed with frustration. "And one of them even tricked me into coming here so they could force me to join them!"

"Yeah, now that you mention it, you have a plane to take to go back to your studies overseas, right?" Yukiho inquired.

"Actually, I'm thinking about staying a little bit longer," Alisa answered as she twiddled her fingers. "Who knows, I might even become a student in my sister's school... assuming it's still open by then, that is."

Yukiho smiled. "I'm sure it'll still be standing by then. Just you wait, our sisters will find a way to save their school."

The duo stopped, and Yukiho grabbed Alisa's hands as they exchanged looks, and she proclaimed:

"They did it once: Surely they can do it again!"

Alisa, seeing her friend's confidence, smiled and nodded in agreement, before they noticed they were at the household already.

"Well, this is where we stop," Yukiho said as she separated from the foreigner. "I'll take it from here."

"Are you sure you'll be able to handle this on your own?" Alisa asked.

Yukiho smiled. "Just watch."

Yukiho kicked the door open, and saw her impostor and mother having tea together, before they noticed her and reacted appropriately.

"M-Mom, look out!" Not-Yukiho exclaimed as she clung next to Mrs. Kosaka. "It's one of the impostors!"

"I'm afraid the impostor here is you," Yukiho stated, pointing at the impostor. "Yu Watanabe!"

 _ **Meanwhile, at the Principal's Office...**_

The remaining members of Muse were at the office with Principal Minami, who rubbed her forehead as she said:

"Okay, so, good news first. We now know the impostors' plan to ruin all idol groups in Japan, and we managed to retrieve Mrs. Tojo from their clutches."

"What are the bad news?" Umi asked.

"Because of the intense trauma Mrs. Tojo suffered to turn into this Cataclysm Tsunami, we believe it might take weeks before she can return to Muse," the woman answered.

"Yeah, I kinda expected that," Eli said, folding her arms. "Nobody could be able to just walk out of what Nozomi went through without a few scars."

"Still, with Nozomi currently out, that leaves us with a worrying question," Honoka said, before asking the question itself, "How many members do we have left for each sub group?"

"I'm the only active member of Lily White right now," Eli answered.

"Rin and I are the only ones left on NicoRinPana," Hanayo remarked, with a nod of agreement from Rin.

"BiBi was complete until Nozomi... Well, you know," Umi said, scratching the back of her head. "Going by this, it seems the only sub group that still has all its members is Printemps."

"Me, Kotori, and Hanayo," Honaka said as she lowered her head. "I guess... hmm..."

"Is something wrong, Honoka?" Kotori inquired.

"I want to say that, since printemps is the only full team left, we should focus on writing a song for it so we don't fall to obscurity," Honoka rested her chin on her palm. "But, I can't take my mind out of what I saw at that place."

"Yeah, I haven't been able to stop thinking about that either," Umi folded her arms and looked away. "Just the fact that they had not only impostors for all of us, but also multiple impostors just in case... it's honestly disturbing."

"And the one who's behind everything, as you've told me, is an impostor of Mrs. Yazawa herself," Principal Minami remarked, earning the attention and nods from the girls. "There has to be something more to it than that."

"Couldn't have said it better myself."

Muse turned around and saw none other than the members of A-RISE enter the room, each sporting serious looks on their faces.

"A-RISE?" Honoka asked as she walked to Tsubasa. "What are you doing here? I thought you'd be busy practicing your songs or something."

"An impostor attacked us at our hotel, we infiltrated an organization in order to find out what's going on, and we found out that not only you're not the only ones being impersonated, but there are several backups just in case one impostor is taken care of, and you expect us to ignore all that and focus on our idol business?" Tsubasa replied, putting her hands on her hips. "I'm sorry to say this, Honoka, but we have priorities. And stopping the impostor Nico's plan is definitely the top one right now."

Honoka's eyes gleamed with a sense of hope, as her smile widened until it was ear-to-ear, followed by her hugging Tsubasa with pure joy.

And so, with newfound detrmination and confidence, Honoka grabbed Tsubasa's arm and nodded, exclaiming:

"Let's work together to expose that brat, and put an end to this once and for all!"


	13. Chapter 13

**Only two chapters left before the story is finished. Which could be anywhere from next month to a couple of years from now.**

 **Probably a couple of years from now. XD**

 **Anyhow, I want to thank everybody who's been keeping up with this story up to this point, I really appreciate your patience in regards to my awful scheduling. XD**

 **And now, to the preliminary chapter!**

* * *

A couple days had passed since A-RISE and Muse had decided to work together to think up a way to fight back against the impostor Nico and her "Idolons" or whatever that was all about.

They were currently at the Kosaka household, where Yukiho's impostor served the girls some tea, with Tsubasa looking particularly confused.

"First Hanayo and Rin's impostors are made to work after their caught, and now your little sister's impostor does the same thing?" she remarked as she turned to Honaka. "Don't tell me you plan to do the same thing to Nico's copycat when we deal with her."

Honoka quickly shook her head.

"Oh no, after everything she's been responsible for up to this point, the best thing we can do about her is get her sent to jail, or at the very least juvie."

Rin hummed. "Now that you mention it, would Nico's copycat be sent to jail or juvie after everything she's done?"

Umi folded her arms. "I wish I could say that she would definitely go to jail, but I don't know, I feel like she'd be sent to a maximum security juvie instead."

"For brainwashing dozens, maybe hundreds of girls into impersonating idol groups, who are also guilty of assault and batter?!" Eli exclaimed, standing up. "I don't know about you, but that stuff sounds like something that would get someone sent to jail immediately!"

"I'm pretty sure everybody believes that too, Eli," Hanayo said. "And trust me, nobody in this room would like more than to have that impostor rot in prison for the rest of her life-"

"Which is admittedly a pretty dark thing coming from idols like us," Kotori remarked.

"But we have to think about this logically too: As bad as she is, and as good as it would be if she went to prison, she doesn't seem to be any older than us," Rin spoke. "From what I can see, and going by the shows I've watched, she'd be sent to juvie at best."

Eli folded her arms and sat down, her anger at the harsh reality being quite apparent.

That is, until she remembered something:

"Does anybody know how Nozomi is doing?"

 ** _Meanwhile, on the streets of the city..._**

Nozomi sat on a bench, drinking a cold drink as she tried to remain as calm as possible. Psychiatrist's orders.

"Okay, Nozomi, don't freak out, everything... hopefully will be better from now on. You're no longer that fake Nico's plaything, and Muse are probably working on givine her the payback she deserves."

Nozomi took a deep breath... and probably began freaking out.

"But what if they fail to reveal her scheme to the world? What if she convinces them to attack each other? What if she puts them through the same torture she put me through?! And what if?!"

"H-Hi, Nozomi-"

The motherly idol gasped and nearly jumped out of her seat, shivering as she turned around to see the person who said that was none other than Mako.

"A-Are you okay? Do you feel better now?"

The blue-haired idol took a deep breath and put a hand over her chest, taking a couple of smaller breaths before she tried assuming her usual smile.

"Y-Yeah... I'm, I'm better now, sort of... I'm not a raving madwoman like I was before, at least."

However, both the smile and her ensuing laughter had clear signs of discomfort in them, almost as if she was hoping the situation would just end and she'd be left alone to cope.

But Mako knew that if Nozomi needed something right now, it probably wasn't time to be alone.

"What about the rest of the girls? Have you managed to contact them?"

Nozomi almost tripped and hit the ground face-first.

"Have you lost your mind?! After everything I did as "Cataclysm Tsunami" or whatever, I'll never be able to show my face to them again: I tried to hurt them, heck, I tried to _kill_ them!"

Nozomi's face turned slightly blue.

"Not to mention the fact that, thanks to my "washi-washi" habit, I've technically been assaulting them all this time! A fact that I wasn't even aware of until my therapist pointed it out to me!"

Mako frowned. "To be fair, the girls never really looked... too uncomfortable with it-"

"That doesn't excuse it!"

Nozomi lowered her head in shame. "I'll never be able to face them again!"

And then she realized something. "W-Wait a minute, what are you doing out of the hospital? Aren't you supposed to rest until you've fully recovered?!"

"I more or less have recovered enough that I can walk home on my own," Mako replied. "Of course, it'll be a couple more days before I'm a hundred percent back on full health-"

Nozomi promptly grabbed Mako's shoulders.

"Then go back to the hospital! Or head home right away! Stop wasting time with me and head to a safe zone!"

Mako separated from Nozomi.

"I can't just ignore you while you're clearly on the verge of a mental breakdown!"

"Maybe you should!"

Mako took a step back, and the blue-haired idol calmed down slightly.

"Maybe... Maybe you should ignore me... Maybe, you should make sure that we never meet again... Maybe you should start thinking of me as nothing more than your enemy, just in case I go nuts again!"

"Nozomi, your stint as Cataclysm Tsunami wasn't something you did on your own: Your mind was broken thanks to the torture the fake Nico put you through. But all that stuff's over now, Nozomi; Muse will find a way to put that jerk in her place."

"You're right on one thing, Mako: That disgusting fake Nicocchi broke my mind!" Nozomi put her hands on her head. "And even after getting psychiatric help, I can still feel the shards in my head, moving around and making tiny disturbing noises!"

"I don't know if I'll be able to be completely sane or healthy again, Mako: Heck, I don't even know if I'll get to the point where I can share the stage with the girls again! The damage was that bad!"

Mako lowered her eyelids.

"Nozomi, trust me, even if you can't be on the stage with them anymore, even if your mind might never recover, I'm pretty sure the girls would love nothing more than to see you again."

Nozomi frowned and lowered her head.

"But what if I hurt them, like I hurt you?"

Mako extended her hand towards Nozomi.

"How about we find out together?"

 ** _Back with Muse and A-RISE..._**

The girls found themselves lost in thought as they tried to think of a plan to deal with the impostors once and for all.

However, one girl in particular seemed to be lost in a different kind of thought: Maki, at least, judging by her worried expression.

"Maki?"

The redhead didn't flinch at her name being called, rather, she calmly returned to reality with a somber statement.

"Nico and Mako... aren't here."

Eli promptly walked to Maki and put a hand on her shoulder.

"I know you're worried for their health, we all are, but we need to think of something to do that'll deal with the impostors once and for all, first and foremost."

Honoka was next to sit next to Maki.

"Yeah, otherwise, there will be more girls who suffer the same fate as Nicocchi and Mako."

Maki lowered her head and frowned, though she immediately stood up when she heard a voice say:

"Mind if I give my opinion?"

Everybody turned around, and saw both Mako and Nozomi entering through the door, the latter quickly hiding behind something as Mako took a few steps forward before Maki got all up in her case.

"Mako!" Maki chirped as she hugged her friend. "I thought I wasn't going to see you again for a long time!"

Mako, with her face partially turned blue, gasped for air as she answered, "Your worries are about to become a reality if you keep hugging me this hard!"

Maki, realizing what she was doing, released Mako and backed away as the brunette caught her breath. "S-Sorry."

"Maki was so scared over how well you were going to be," Rin blurted, earning a look from Maki as she continued, "She's been crying nonstop all these days, saying how it was all her fault and-"

The redhead chased the cat-like girl, shouting, "Shut up, Rin!" as the orange-haired girl chuckled.

"So, what have I missed?" Mako asked as she sat down. "Why are Muse and A-RISE together here?"

"Actually, before we move on to that stuff, how about you tell us what are you doing here?" Honoka asked. "I mean, you were beaten quite badly by-"

Honoka paused, glanced at the saddened Nozomi, peeking out of her hiding spot, and quickly corrected herself.

"You-know-who."

Nozomi lowered her head and looked away.

"I thought you would be in the hospital for a little bit longer."

Mako scratched the back of her head. "So did I, but as it turns out, my body recovered faster than I expected, and they allowed me to return home, just so long as I don't do anything that could hurt my body again."

"So, while you could help us think of a plan to deal with the impostors," Honoka folded her arms. "You can't participate in it?"

Mako shook her head. "If it involves heavy work, then I'm afraid not."

Then, she realized something.

"And even then, though, do you have time to both think of how to deal with the impostors, and prepare for the next Love Live?"

Upon hearing that, the girls exchanged concerned looks, and a few seconds later, they were all at the principal's office, where Principal Minami searched the answer to one troubling question:

"When does the next Love Live happen?"

Once the answer was found, Principal Minami clasped her hands and turned her chair around as she prepared to give the news to the group...

Before she whispered the answer to Kotori, who shouted:

"The next Love Live is in three days?!"

"And none of us have practiced for it!" Tenyo exclaimed, pulling her hair as she realized what this meant. "Not since we agreed to think of possible traps!"

"Dang it, she's right!" Umi remarked as she scratched her chin. "We were so focused on the traps and the impostors, that we forgot to train for the Love Live!"

"And also, Muse is missing members: Nico's still hospitalized, Maki's arm is nowhere close to being healed, and Nozomi might take a few more psychiatric visits before she can be an idol again!" Hanayo said.

"Not to mention, the impostors are probably setting things up to ruin it as we speak," Mako remarked. "If the full team can't present themselves, there's no way to prove everybody's an impostor."

"So, this was part of their plan all along..." the principal remarked with a sigh. "Stop Muse and A-RISE from stopping them from ruining the Love Live, and by extension, the public's opinion on idols."

Umi frowned. "And even if we try to get our presentation ready, who knows what those impostors will do to ruin everything?"

The team collectively sighed.

"What do we do now?"

Honoka looked at her saddened companions, stood up, narrowed her eyes and stated:

"We'll go to the Love Live."

"But we haven't even practiced a routine yet! Heck, we haven't even picked what we're going to do!" Hanayo pointed out, with Kotori nodding in agreement. "And even if we practiced every day from here on out until the Love Live, there's no guarantee that the impostors wouldn't try to sabotage us again!"

"And even if we do focus on the Love Live from now on, we can't stand back and let those copycats do what they want," Tsubasa added, folding her arms. "The public's opinion and view on idols are at stake here!"

Honaka smiled. "And who says we're going to go there as performers?"

Everybody exchanged confused looks, then leaned closer to Honoka, who gestured them to come to her side.

"Here's the plan..."


	14. Chapter 14

**It's been 84 years since I updated this story, so, what better punchline than to actually NOT do an author's note and lead you into the chapter itself?**

 **I'm not kidding either, I got nothing to say: only that I hope you enjoy the finale of Shocked.**

 **There's one more chapter after this, but it's more of an epilogue, so this one right here is the actual finale.**

 **But enough blabbering! Let's go!**

* * *

Today was the day of the Love Live, the day that Not-Nico would finally commence her attack, her master plan to deal a massive blow to Idolhood nearing closer and closer as the groups of Muse and A-RISE overlooked the stadium the event would take place at, the wind blowing in their direction.

While A-RISE was complete, though, Muse was missing the obvious members: Nozomi, Maki, and Nico, leaving Honoka, Kotori, Umi, Hanayo, Rin, and Eli.

"Brr, w-w-why's today so cold?!" Rin spoke, hugging herself and shaking as the wind blow. "D-D-Did the fake Nico's cold-heartedness s-s-spread to the wind?"

"No, I think it's just that you took the worst time to take a bath," Umi answered. "I mean seriously, who takes a bath mere minutes before going up to a hill, where the winds going to blow to accentuate the dramatic tension?"

"B-B-B-B-B-"

Kotori promptly wrapped a scarf around Rin's neck. "Here, that should give you some warmth."

The cat-like idol moaned in delight at the warmth of the scarf, while the rest of the girls could only wonder how was it that a simple scarf could

"Anyway, as I was saying: You all took baths before heading out as well, right?"

"Yeah, but we took them early in the morning," Eli responded. "You were the only one who decided to play around and get dirty the rest of the day!"

"It's not my fault that we spent so much time with nothing to do!" Rin whined, stomping the ground. "And what's worse, the mystery shows I was watching either ended or were cancelled, leaving me without the one thing that's been keeping me entertained since this started!"

"Girls, stay focused!" Tsubasa exclaimed, getting Muse's attention. "We only have one shot to do this: One slip-up, and the impostors get away with everything!"

Honoka nodded in agreement.

"Tsubasa's right: In just a few minutes, the Love Live is going to start, the fake Nico will hijack the stadium, and whatever she does next will ruin the public's opinion on idols forever!"

Tsubasa took a step forward and continued.

"And if she gets her way, all the months, maybe years of practice we've been through, all the effort, the troubles, the dancing lessons, everything we've all been through, that will be rendered null and void!"

"Yeah, that would really suck," Rin spoke.

"That's right, it'll suck if that happens," Honoka extended her hand forward. "So, for the sake of all idols everywhere, let's put an end to this once and for all!"

The girls exchanged looks, smiled, and all put their hands together.

"Yeah!"

 _ **Nishikino Household...**_

Maki sat on the couch and put the Love Live on TV as Nozomi sat next to her, letting out a small yawn.

"As much as I'm happy that the Love Live is taking place at night, it's a real pain to fight back the urge to fall asleep."

"That's certainly not something I expected you to say, Nozomi."

"I know, but it's true: Even without the torture I went through thanks to... you-know-who, I'm not used to staying up so late," Nozomi yawned. "And before I forget, why do you seem so calm, Maki?"

"Me being calm is perfectly normal."

"Well, yeah, but you're staying here, watching the Love Live while the rest of our friends and A-RISE possibly risk their lives to stop Fake-Nicocchi's plans."

"I know that, but I also know that they're going to succeed no matter what."

"And besides, I called up a little friend to give them some help."

 _ **Back at the Love Live...**_

The bouncer at the event checked his list when a giant shadow loomed over him.

"I already told you, the trenchcoat trick doesn't-"

But as soon as he looked up, he didn't see a bunch of kids inside a giant trenchcoat, but a huge guy with a muscular, a very buttery face, and a very stern glare.

The bouncer collapsed soon after.

"Huh, that was easy," Honoka said, coming out of the tall man's back. "Thanks for the help."

"Anything for a friend of Maki."

Just then, the rest of Muse ran up to the scene.

"Honoka, has the bouncer been taken care of-"

And then the girls stopped on their tracks once they saw the giant man.

"Holy bodybuilders!"

"He's huge!"

"How come we didn't notice him until now?!"

"Girls, calm down, he's on our side!" Hlnoka spoke, taking a step forward. "This is Takeo Nishikino, Maki's cousin!"

"That load of muscles is her cousin?!" Kotori said, hiding behind Eli. "If that's the cousin, I don't think I wanna see her aunt and uncle! No offense."

"None taken," Takeo turned to Honoka. "Anyway, I'll put the bouncer somewhere else and stop any suspicious person from going inside, you girls go right in."

"Right! Thanks Takeo!"

The buff man opened the door and the girls quickly ran inside, though Hanayo made sure to hand Takeo her number before going in.

Once inside, the girls ran up to the backstage... And found all the idol groups who were going to participate tied up, and their mouths covered with duct tape.

And the ones tying them up were none other than the impostors of both Muse and A-RISE, who turned to look at the groups soon after.

"Uh, Honoka," Kotori blurted. "What's the plan now?"

Hanayo shot a glare at the A-RISE impostors, and her look grew angrier as she cracked her knuckles and walked towards the copycats.

The girls stood in awe as what followed was a brutal beating: Not for Hanayo, but from her to the impostors, who all laid on a pile as soon as she finished.

"That's for putting a stain on A-RISE's name!"

Honoka blinked twice. "Wow, Hanayo."

The girl quickly turned back to normal.

"W-What? Did I do something I shouldn't have?!"

"No, I just..." Honoka scratched the back of her head. "I never thought you'd be able to beat up the fake A-RISE and Muse on your own."

"Oh, well," Hanayo casually shrugged. "Someone has to teach them a lesson."

Afterwards, Muse and A-RISE untied the idol groups and helped them stand up.

"We were reviewing what we would do for our performances, when those lookalikes came out of nowhere and tied us up!"

"It's okay now, our friend took care of them," Eli said. "However, I'm afraid we can't celebrate yet."

"What are you talking about, nya?" Rin asked.

"You know how the plan goes, right?" Honoka asked. "First step was to knock out the impostors if there were any."

Rin scratched her chin. "And the second step would be..."

Hanayo walked up to the unconscious impostors, took out their colored eye contacts and smiled.

"Next step is to play Not-Nico for a fool."

 _ **Back Outside the Stadium...**_

"Yes, Takeo here... oh hi, Maki... yeah, the girls already went in and are getting ready for the next part of the plan... hah! Don't worry, I'll never let anybody get past me!"

*click*

"Hello?"

Takeo looked down to see a raven-haired girl looking up at him, looking like she had waited for a while.

So, Takeo promptly crouched down and glared at her.

"Who are you?"

The girl smirked, unfazed by the tactic.

"I'm a member of Muse."

Takeo's eyes widened as his face turned back to normal.

"Are you...?"

 _ **Back inside the Love Live...**_

The audience waited in their seats for the event to begin, growing more and more excited as the lights slowly dimmed, preparing everybody for the first act.

But instead of the lights turning on to reveal the first idol group performing, they remained off as a voice cackled, and the jumbotron turned on, revealing a static screen.

"Welcome, everyone, to the very final Love Live!" a female voice spoke through the megaphone, with a dramatic tone to boot. "And in this grand finale, everything you know about idols, everything you thought you knew about your perfect little singing dolls..."

The static of the screen cleared up, revealing Not-Nico sitting on a chair in a room, boasting:

"Shall be shattered into a million pieces!"

The audience gasped as the lights finally turned on, revealing Muse and A-RISE, disguised as their impostors, keeping the idol groups in place.

"From the very beginning of the industry, they've sugarcoated the true, dark nature of idolhood. Making everyone believe that idols are the very embodiment of beauty and elegance."

Not-Nico sighed.

"A truth that I wish I could call complete baloney, but truth be told, there are idols that really do fit the bill."

Not-Nico looked up, as if to stare at someone through the screen.

"But for every idol who's legitimately beautiful no matter what, there's another one that doesn't take long to crack."

At the Nishikino Household, Nozomi clutched her chest and took a couple deep breaths as Not-Nico kept talking.

"Whether it is insults, torture, or any other method use to run their patience dry, an idol can show their true, horrifying colors, destroying the very image she's worked so hard to cultivate."

Maki tried to change the channel, only to be stopped by Nozomi.

"We need to see how the girls' plan go."

Nozomi smiled.

"And besides, seeing that fake Nicocchi's plan collapse is more than worth a little trauma."

Maki frowned, but kept the channel on the Love Live as Not-Nico looked down at the idols.

"Now, these idols are not the kind who hide a dark secret. They're legitimately nice, beautiful people."

Not-Nico smirked.

"For now."

Not-Nico snapped her fingers, and the audience looked around upon hearing a *click*, realizing to their horror there were several more impostors of Muse, A-RISE, and the other idol groups on the stadium, carrying guns and aiming them right at the defenseless audience.

"However, I'm feeling a little sorry for these idols right now, so if anybody has anything to say that can convince me to stop, I'll consider."

What followed was silence as Muse and A-RISE waited for somebody, anybody to speak up.

"What's this? In the moment that they need your help, none of you can muster the courage to say anything? Will you just sit there and watch them be destroyed, like the apathetic, idiotic sheep you are!?"

"I don't know about you, but I do have _one_ thing to say..."

Not-Nico, the impostors, Muse, A-RISE, and even the camera of the jumbotron turned to watch the one who said that.

And to their shock, it was none other than Nico Yazawa, who promptly stated:

"Nico Nico Nii!"

The stadium cheered like crazy for the idol, while the members of Muse and A-RISE felt revitalized by the return of the first victim of this case.

Shortly after, Not-Nico turned the jumbotron camera back to her and exclaimed:

"Keep everybody standing while I deal with this brat!"

Not-Nico punched the screen hard enough to shatter it, returning the screen to static.

She also got a couple of glass shards stuck on her fist, but she barely noticed as she stood up and turned to the original Nico.

"You being here should be, no, definitely is impossible!" Not-Nico exclaimed. "You should still be hospitalized at this moment!"

"You should've checked some info about head injuries, then, you poor man's idol; The injury I got needed only two weeks to heal," Nico stated. "And now that I'm back, now that all of Muse is here, we're going to put an end to your scheme, once and for all!"

"You'd stop me from doing the idol world a favor by exposing its dark side!?" Not-Nico snapped, walking towards the idol. "I mean, think about it! Weren't you a victim of that world's shadier business? Surely that would help you understand where I'm coming from!"

"The only "shadier business" I've been a victim of has been your own," Nico proudly stated. "And believe me; after everything you've done, nobody will see where you're coming from."

Not-Nico took out some of the shards and wielded them.

"And neither will you!"

Nico backed away as Not-Nico swung the glass shard at her, until the pair came out and ran out of the control room.

While that happened, Muse and A-RISE exchanged looks and nodded, before they dropped the weapons they were using to keep the other idols hostage.

"Hey, copycats!"

The armed impostors turned to face the girls, and they immediately opened fire on them once they revealed themselves to be the real idol groups.

Fortunately, they managed to hide before there was a rain of bullets on top of them.

Unfortunately, there was now a rain of bullets on top of them.

"Okay, I think we may have missed a step!" Hanayo exclaimed. "What are we supposed to do now with all these bullets flying around!?"

"Just be patient!" Honoka answered. "Nico will help us soon enough!"

 _ **Speaking of Nico...**_

The experienced idol and her impostor continued to run around the building, heading towards a set of windows, revealing a surprising sight outside.

Several police cars were stationed around the building, making it so that even if Not-Nico and the impostors could get out, they would have to go through the police first.

"Great, they're already here."

Nico turned around, and with only a small amount of fear, faced against the crazed copycat in front of her.

"Now, all I have to do is make sure your plan crumbles apart."

"You? Make my plan crumble apart!? Don't make me laugh!" Not-Nico snapped, gripping the glass shard harder. "The stadium is surrounded in fear! My little copies of you and your friends have dozens of hostages, and most importantly,"

Not-Nico took a stance that made her look like a slasher.

"You're not going to live to piss me off again!"

Not-Nico dashed towards the real Nico, who smirked with confidence.

She then slightly crouched down, and jumped to the side once Not-Nico got close enough, taking advantage of the impostor's shock to kick her hand, dislodging and taking out all the shards off it in the process.

She then kicked her with her other leg, causing her to hit the ground as the shards landed on her back... or would have, had they not bounced off of her.

However, the pain from trying to stand up using her injured hand more than worked to keep her in place.

"Damn it, why does my hand hurt now!?"

"Yeah, I'll leave you to figure that out yourself," Nico stated with a smug smile. "Now, if you excuse me, I have an impostor to impersonate."

Not-Nico's eyes widened as Nico ran away.

"Wait... wouldn't that be... impostorception?"

 _ **Back with Muse and A-RISE...**_

The idols finally got a chance to breath when their impostors ran out of bullets, with the next few seconds giving them the idea that they didn't have any spares.

"I thought the ammo was endless!"

That also might've helped.

So, the idols ran to the backstage and guided the other idol groups to the exit.

"Okay, things were pretty intense just a moment ago, but they're about to get even more intense!" Tsubasa remarked. "So, do all of yourselves a favor and get out of here!"

"But what about you?"

Honoka turned back to the stage.

"There's some unfinished business we need to take care of."

The other idols left, and Muse and A-RISE gained smiles on their faces once they heard a microphone feedback, followed by a familiar voice.

"Attention, all Idolons!"

The armed impostors looked up at the jumbotron, whose image was still static from the destruction of the screen.

"This is your master speaking! Drop your weapons, and take off your colored contacts right now."

The impostors took a moment to think about this, before they shrugged and obliged, dropping their empty weapons before taking out their contacts, revealing their real eye colors.

"And now, since I'm too lazy to do it myself, I'll let this recording of a certain Idolon remind you all of who you used to be."

Mako smiled as the list promptly began, and for every name called out, an Idolon turned back to normal and looked at their surroundings, with more and more returning back to normal as more names were said.

"Okay, they'll be there for a while," Mako remarked. "Let's go to the control room and meet up with Nico."

The idols nodded and followed Mako to the mentioned control room, leaving the Idolons to continue their return to normality.

 ** _Back with Not-Nico..._**

The impostor held her uninjured hand on a wall, slowly walking towards the lower levels as she took several deep breaths, cursing Nico every once in a while.

"That damn Nico... first she heals too fast... and then she has the gall... to attack me while I'm this close to liberating all idols!"

The impostor felt a reflex in her throat, and lowered her head to barf out some blood.

"Not to mention she left me in such a horrible state!"

The impostor clutched her stomach with her injured hand and took a couple more deep breaths.

"It was a good idea to go from making those terrible images and stories to manipulation and brainwashing... now if only I had done that at the beginning, the plan would've run much more smoothly!"

The impostor took one final deep breath, and smirked.

"Oh well, at least there's tomorrow to try again."

"Yeah, I wouldn't say that."

Not-Nico looked up and saw none other than Nico standing on the hallways, hands on her hips and with a proud smile on her face.

Instead of concerning the impostor, this caused her to flash a smirk.

"You know, you could've remained at the hospital while all of this was going down. Hell, even if you had recovered regardless, you could've simply stayed at the control room and let the rest of the event play out."

Not-Nico grinned maliciously.

"Now that you're in my way, though, I'll just have to get rid of you. And unlike last time."

Not-Nico flashed a bloody smile.

"I'm going to _kill_ you."

Nico put her hand near her mouth and laughed like a noble woman, confusing the impostor.

"You're trying to convince yourself that you'll come out of this unscathed, don't you? It's not going to work: the Idolons might have turned back to normal, but I can easily kill you by myself, even without them."

"Well, I would like to see you try," Nico scoffed. "Because without the Idolons, you're one..."

Muse and A-RISE came out of the hallway and stood by Nico's side.

"And we're ten."

Not-Nico's smiled slowly turned into a horrified frown.

"But don't worry, we're not all going to attack you at once," Nico took a couple steps back as Honoka and Eli stepped forward. "The only ones who'll attack you, will be the members whose family you dared to hurt."

Honoka and Eli took out baseball bats, causing the impostor to wince and smile in fear.

"Y-You wouldn't get violent against a defenseless girl, right?"

"After everything you've done to not only us, but our family, you have the audacity to ask that!?" Honoka snapped. "As soon as you hurt our sisters, you lost the right to plead for mercy!"

"And besides," Eli narrowed her eyes. "A-RISE told us you're not exactly unarmed."

Not-Nico narrowed her eyes in return.

"I guess there are idols that have brains as well as beauty."

Not-Nico reached for her back and took out her whip.

"Too bad I'm going to spread those brains across the walls!"

Honoka and Eli dodged the impostor's ensuing whip swings and Eli swung her bat, hitting her hand hard enough to make Not-Nico drop her whip.

What came next was Honoka and Eli swinging their weapons at Not-Nico, who managed to block most of them until one upward swing hit her right in the chin, knocking down a tooth or two.

After that, Not-Nico quickly dodged the next attack from Honoka and grabbed her arm with a single hand, though she quickly found herself lacking the strength needed to keep her in place.

Honoka and Eli swung their bats again, this time hitting Not-Nico hard enough to send her flying... over the barricade set up by Muse and A-RISE.

As soon as they realized their mistake, Eli and Honoka ran after the impostor, only for her to stand up and flash one more bloody, condescending grin.

"Goodbye, whores!"

Not-Nico cackled maniacally as she ran away, the laughter growing more distant as she left the girls' field of view.

"Wow, what a potty mouth!" Rin snapped.

"But most importantly," Eli said. "She's getting away!"

Nico and Kotori exchanged looks, then smiled before they answered in unison:

"No, she's not."

Not-Nico found out what they meant once she ran out of the stadium to run into not only Takeo, but also several police officers, all aiming their guns at her.

"Raise your hands or we'll be forced to shoot!"

Not-Nico immediately obliged and raised her hands, catching her breath as a woman walked into view, just as some of the officers ran up to Not-Nico, ready to arrest her.

This woman was Principal Minami, who folded her arms with a disapproving look as Not-Nico seemingly recognized her.

"You! What do you-"

As soon as the impostor took a step, the officers readied their aim, reminding the copycat of her current position.

 ** _Sometime Later..._**

Not-Nico had her hands cuffed as the idols said goodbye to Takeo.

"Thanks a lot for the help, Takeo," Honoka said. "You didn't do much, technically, but we couldn't have gotten inside without you."

"It's okay, anything for a friend of the family," Takeo answered with a smile.

Then, he turned to Hanayo.

"Also, about this number you gave me. I'm flattered, but I have a girlfriend back home."

Hanayo blushed and frowned, until Takeo crouched down and put his massive hand on her shoulder.

"However, if something ever happens to you or Maki, you can call me, and I'll come to help you."

Takeo removed his hand, revealing he had placed his phone number on Hanayo's shoulder.

And as she grabbed and looked at the number, Takeo promptly ran out of the stadium and into the mountains, leaving a trail of dust in his wake.

"He's not planning to run all the way back to his house, is he?" Nico asked, slightly concerned. "'Cause even if he goes to Maki's house, we're quite a few miles away from the city."

"I don't know, I think he looks like he could make the trip and back," Kotori shrugged.

And then, a familiar car arrived at the car stop: the Nishikino family car, where Maki walked out just as the girls ran up to her, including an overjoyed Nico.

"Maki!"

The redhead spread her good arm and smiled.

"Nico!"

The redhead and the raven-haired girl shared a deep hug, with Maki patting Nico's back before the duo separated.

"Are you okay?" Nico asked with a concerned tone.

"Yeah, my arm will take a little longer to heal, but besides that, I'm fine," Maki answered with a nod. "How about you? How do you feel?"

Nico smiled.

"Fantastic now that you're here."

"And I'm not alone."

Nozomi was next to walk out of the car, now looking a little bit healthier than before.

At least until she looked at Nico, causing her to hide behind Maki as her hair became disheveled once more.

"It's going to take her a little longer to get used to you again, Nico."

"It's alright, it took me a long while to get better too," Nico folded her arms. "And I bet you want to see my impostor being arrested."

Before she even got an answer, Nico pointed at her impostor being arrested, and as she was kept restrained, the girls approached her a bit, including Maki and Nozomi who caught her attention.

"Well, if it isn't Tsunami and Maki," Not-Nico scoffed. "What, do you want me to end destroying you?"

Maki, however, was having none of that.

"You speak quite proudly for someone who's about to be taken to jail."

"You speak as if that was guaranteed to be the end of me," Not-Nico countered. "It may take a while, but I'm going to get out, and I'll finish what I started once I do."

The police raised an eyebrow at the fact the impostor had just told them she was going to try to escape, a fact she was oblivious to as Maki smiled and pointed out:

"You know, after everything you've done, I wouldn't be surprised if the judge decides to give you the chair."

Not-Nico rolled her eyes.

"Oh no! Not the chair! Anything but the chair!"

Then she dropped the sarcastic tone.

"How is a dumb old chair going to make me pay for what I've done? What, am I going to be forced to sit down to death?"

Maki flashed a smug smile.

"In a sense."

Not-Nico's eyes widened, then groaned and rolled her eyes before she snapped a look at Principal Minami.

"As long as it keeps me away from that overgrown diva over there, I guess it's better than nothing."

Muse turned to look at Principal Minami, who promptly looked away.

Then Kotori walked up to her.

"Mom, do you know who Nico's impostor is?"

Principal Minami kept quiet, and the police put Not-Nico on the police car as Maki approached her for one more question.

"Before we never see you again, I'm pretty sure there's one thing everybody wants to know."

Maki narrowed her eyes.

"Who are you?"

Not-Nico remained silent for a moment, then chuckled.

"Wouldn't you like to know-"

"Ranko Kanzaki."

Not-Nico's eyes widened as she processed the name that was said, and who said the name: Principal Minami, who was looking sternly at the copycat.

"How... how did you... who told you?..."

A rage surged through Not Nico.

"Who told you!?"

The police restrained Not-Nico as she barked at Principal Minami, who walked towards her.

"I ditched that name years ago! Erased every memory of it, destroyed anything that could remind of it, and abandoned the place where I was born just so I wouldn't hear it again! So how did she find it?! Who told her my real name!?"

Maki touched Not-Nico's nose.

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

With that said, the impostor was kept in the police car and it rode off as everybody promptly bid farewell and left, the Idolon threat finally taken care of...

* * *

Sometime later, at the principal's office, Principal Minami looked through the window at the sunny day, finally getting a chance to relax after the madness that had happened a few weeks ago.

And then Kotori came through the door.

"Mom?"

The principal's smile remained as she flipped her chair around.

"I'm sorry if I'm interrupting something important, but there's something the girls and I have been asking Not-Nico was arrested."

The principal raised an eyebrow.

"She seemed to know you, and judging by her reaction when you said that name, you knew her too. So, how can that be?"

Principal Minami took a deep breath.

"Your friends came with you?"

The rest of Muse burst through the door, hitting the ground face-first.

"They want to know the story too."

The principal took a deep breath as the rest of the idol group walked up to her, and she chose to explain herself.

"A long time ago, I was part of a group of idols. I don't remember much about that group, besides the fact that we were popular for a little while."

Honoka asked. "What was the name of this group?"

"Cinderella Girls."

"Oh, I heard about that group!" Hanayo said. "Apparently, they were a popular idol group before they all grew up too old to be considered marketable."

"Most of us grew too old to be considered marketable anymore," Principal Minami frowned. "Ranko, however, was left off for a different reason."

"She used to be something of a "chuunibyou," constantly talking about how she was a vampire lord and other bizarre things. However, we tolerated it, and her fans loved her for it, seeing a piece of themselves in her."

Principal Minami frowned and rolled her chair again, facing the window once more.

"One day, Ranko just... snapped. She stopped using her excentric way to speak, she stopped dressing like a gothic lolita, and seemed to want to forget ever thinking of herself as a vampire."

Principal Minami lowered her eyelids.

"Eventually, she got into quite a lot of scandals, and her popularity plummeted."

"And she was laid off thanks to those scandals?" Umi inquired.

"Well, she wasn't so much "laid off" as she ran away from the studio before she could pay for the scandals. From there, nobody heard from her again until she reappeared as... well, you know."

Kotori frowned. "Mom-"

"That's all I'm willing to share with you girls," the principal stated. "Go back to your classes, or if those are done, go to the clubroom."

The girls nodded, and left the office, walking to the clubroom as they shared a few words.

"Poor Principal Minami, to think the person behind this disaster was one of her old friends," Eli remarked.

"And to think she chose me to impersonate of all people," Nico added. "She should've known she was going to be found out as soon as she failed to live up to my standard."

"Then again, she didn't exactly seem like a stable person in the first place," Hanayo remarked. "Maybe she chose to impersonate you by chance, and would've impersonated anybody else if she hadn't found you first?"

"That just makes me wonder how she found out about me in the first place," Nico answered, before she turned to Honoka with a stern look. "And Honoka, what's with that smile on your face?"

Everybody focused their eyes on Honoka as she took a deep breath.

"I'm just thinking about how everything is finally over: the threats, the impersonations, it's all over now."

The idols smiled as they realized Honoka was more or less right: the Idolons were no more, the school was no longer going to get a bad reputation after the arrest of Not-Nico, things seemed to be mostly fine overall.

Sure, some things were still uncleared, but the main problems seemed to have been fixed.

"So, I guess things are going to go back to normal now, right?" Eli asked.

Honoka stopped on her track, turned to her friends and, keeping the smile on her face, shook her head.

"Not quite."


	15. Chapter 15

**And here we are, the epilogue and the very final chapter of the story known as "Shocked."**

 **And, considering how long it usually takes me to update this thing, maybe a year or so has passed before we noticed XD**

 **Anyway, I want to thank everyone who stood behind to read this little Love Live/Idolmaster surprise crossover story, even though it's been YEARS since the series this was based on was popular.**

 **Maybe I'll write a Love Live Sunshine one next time, see if that gets more views. Or maybe I'll just do it to screw with everyone's favorite lesbian idols XD**

 **Anyhow, to the finale! :)**

* * *

A month and a half had passed since the fateful Love Live, where the plans of Idolon and the fake Nico were exposed to the world, then promptly foiled thanks to the joined efforts of Muse and A-RISE.

And now, though the event still remained fresh in the public's mind, a sense of peace returned to the idols who were once victims of the fake Nico's plans.

A sense that was more evident as most of them walked to their school, probably for remedies or extra classes since it was the weekend: What before could be described as a feeling of dread and paranoia over whatever the impostors could do next, now felt more relaxed and at ease, as if the weights of the entire world had been taken off the girls' shoulders and had finally been allowed to breath.

Among the girls heading to the school was a certain Mako Omine, who while not a student, still had an important thing to do at the school: check up on her old friend Maki, who was standing by the school's entrance.

"Maki!"

"Hi, Mako!" Maki greeted. "It's nice to see you here."

"It's nice to see you too, Maki," the brunette replied as she approached her friend. "How's your arm holding up?"

"It completely healed a few weeks ago, but I've been trying not to exert it too much just to be sure," the redhead answered as she stretched a bit. "So far, so good, though, I think it might be a while before I go back to rehearsels."

"I'm glad to hear that," Mako spoke with a smile. "And how's everybody else holding up?"

Maki smiled at the question, and grabbed Mako's hand.

"I'll tell you while we walk, okay?"

 _ **Kosaka Household...**_

Honaka and Yukiho, along with Yu, the girl who impersonated Yukiho, stood at the entrance of the house, the latter taking a couple steps forward as she looked at the scenery.

"Are you sure you can get to the bus stop by yourself?"

Yu turned around and saw Honaka and Yukiho still looking at her, both sporting smiles on their faces. "We could guide you to it if you want."

Yu, however, was more concerned than happy at the smiles. "Why are you acting like this?"

Honoka and Yukiho tilted their heads.

"Look, the one with the blue eyes, I impersonated your little sister, I did this for several days, while she was knocked out in I don't remember where! Shouldn't you be furious at me?!"

"Oh, I'm pretty angry about it still, don't get me wrong," Honoka answered, shaking her head. "In fact, it might take a little bit longer before I'm within the capacity of forgiving and forgetting the incident."

Yukiho raised an eyebrow. "It's been over a month."

"I know, but I still need some time for me to calm down: I'm just that angry," Honoka took a deep breath. "But I'm not angry to be blind to the fact that the one who orchestrated everything, and who's to blame for all of this fiasco, has already been taken care of."

"Besides," Yukiho walked up to Yu. "You were as much of a victim as everybody else. It doesn't make you any less guilty, but you already acted like our servant since we found you out until the master impostor, so I think that should be enough."

Yukiho patted Yu's head.

"Now, you can go home, and everybody can finally start moving on with their lives!"

Yu smiled.

"Yeah... you're right."

Yu bid farewell and left for the bus stop, the sisters looking at her until her figure had left their sight of view. And then Yukiho turned to her sister and hugged her.

"It's nice to be back!" Yukiho chirped. "I know I said that before, but it feels good to hear that after everything that happened, right?"

Honoka smiled, hugged her sister, then said with a wide smile:

"Yes it does. Welcome home, Yukiho."

 ** _Meanwhile, at the airport..._**

Eli and her family waited for Alisa's plane to prepare for takeoff, with the girl herself looking at the plane with concern.

"Do I really have to go back to my studies overseas?" Alisa asked, giving her sister a pair of puppy-dog eyes. "I've had so much fun with you here, I wouldn't mind staying one or two more weeks-"

"Our relatives and your school overseas are worried sick for you," Eli told her sister, brushing her hair. "And besides, your classes will start soon, won't they? Do you really want to be late on your first day of your new semester?"

"No, but... wait, what about my impostor?" Alisa pointed out. "I don't remember doing anything about her, m-maybe she's still out there somewhere!"

"Idolon is gone for good, and the brainwashing it did to everyone was undone when Nico's impostor was forced to undo it on live television," Eli calmly explained. "Even if she was still out there, I highly doubt she'd try to hurt you in any capacity."

"And if she does try anything funny, your school will take care of it."

Alisa frowned, feeling relieved, yet saddened at the fact she had to go.

And then Eli put her hand on her head.

"Don't worry, though, a break will surely come soon, and when it comes, we can make a schedule so one of us can see the other, okay?"

Alisa looked at her sister's eyes, smiled, and hugged her, Eli hugging back as.

"Okay."

 ** _A Therapist's Office..._**

Nico sat outside the office in question, waiting for the person being attended to leave. She didn't have to wait long, however, as the person, Nozomi, came out the door a moment later as the therapist said:

"Okay, Mrs. Tojo, that's it for today's session. I'll be waiting for you next week at the same hour."

"Understood, Mr. Amami."

With that said, the therapist closed the door, and Nozomi looked at Nico... and promptly sat at the seat the farthest from her.

"How do you feel, Nozomi!" Nico called. "Did the therapist help you feel a little bit better?!"

"Yeah, I guess so!" Nozomi responded with a smile, trying to avoid looking at Nico. "I mean, I don't think I'll be able to see you for a while without remembering... the other one, but I think I'm on a good road so far!"

"And we got Principal Minami to thank for that!" Nico said with a chuckle. "Who would've thought one of her old idol friends would turn out to be a therapist?"

Nozomi's smile widened. "I don't know, but I'm glad she had the contact."

 _ **Meanwhile, with Umi, Kotori, Rin, and Hanayo...**_

The quartet rested at Rin's bedroom, Rin and Hanayo engaging in a little staring contest while Umi and Kotori read some books together.

In the middle of the contest, Rin started pulling various kinds of faces, trying to get a rinse out of Hanayo while also maintaining her own, unblinking stare at her.

Hanayo, also still focused on staring, scoffed, "Those lessons with Umi worked for you in the end, huh?"

"Don't doubt Master Umi's teaching, nya!" Rin snapped, unknowingly closing her eyes.

And then she realized the trick. "Dang it!"

Umi giggled at the duo's interaction, her laughter soon dying down as she closed her book and turned to Kotori.

"Hey, Kotori, could we talk in private for a moment?"

Kotori blinked twice and raised an eyebrow.

 ** _Outside Rin's room..._**

"Is something wrong, Umi?" Kotori asked, tilting her head.

"I'm not okay with this new "transfer student" idea you and the principal thought up," Umi answered, folding her arms. "I'm sorry, I know you already explained your reasoning for doing so, but I can't accept it no matter what!"

"Umi, I already told you it was mostly Mom's idea to have that girl transfer to Otonokizaka High School," Kotori answered. "And besides, don't you want to keep an eye on this "transfer student" too?"

"Yeah, but I want to do so from a safe distance! And doing so while she's in the same room doesn't cut it for me!"

And then, the duo realized something.

"Wait, what time is it?"

Kotori looked at her clock, but just as her eyes widened as big as dinner plates, Rin and Hanayo, both dressed in their school uniforms, burst out of the room.

"We're going to be late!"

 _ **Back at Otonokizaka High School...**_

"So that's how everybody's doing," Mako remarked, folding her arms behind her back. "I'm glad that everybody managed to move on from the whole idolon fiasco."

"Don't jump the gun just yet, Mako: it'll take quite a while longer before we've made significant progress," Maki sighed. "But, you're right in a sense: we are making progress."

Maki flashed a smile at Mako.

"And it's time _you_ make some progress too."

Mako raised an eyebrow, but she soon got her answer once she realized she and Maki were now in the hallways, followed by Maki taking her directly into a classroom, where the remaining members of Muse-and Principal Minami-stood as they stated:

"Welcome to Otonokizaka High School!"

Mako blinked twice.

"Wait, what?"

"Ever since the fiasco with the impostors ended, the girls went to me and talked about how some things seem to connect with you, Miss Omine," Principal Minami answered. "For example, they told me that the reason you joined the idolons was because you wanted to keep an eye on Miss Nishikino here."

"W-Well, that's true, but..." Mako frowned. "I don't get what this is supposed to mean-"

"You're being transferred to Otonokizaka High School," Kotori explained. "The principal already talked with the principal of your former school, and they agreed to let you study here!"

Mako rolled her eyes. "So that's why the principal told me I didn't have to come back there this next semester. But, why would you do this?"

"Normally, we'd say we're doing this out of good will," the principal said. "After all, we made progress and eventually dealt with the problem thanks to you."

"But the truth is," Kotori said. "We're doing this to keep an eye on you as well!"

"Yeah, especially after what you did," Hanayo said. "Before you joined us, that is."

"Like creating impostors of us, nya!" Rin chirped.

"And also, your copycats injured Maki," Nico said with a smile. "And I'm never letting anybody who does that get away with it!"

"And those impostors were our sisters, which you modified yourself, by the way," Honoka added.

"And we're going to hold you responsible for it, too!" Eli said with a wink.

"Besides, you tied me up and shoved me inside a locker," Umi added, trying to keep a smile. "So, there's three things for you to take responsibility!"

"So, you see, Mako," Maki said as she walked towards the brunette. "You got quite a few amends to make."

The redhead wrapped her arm around the brunette and said with a smile:

"And we're going to see you make them, so no shortcuts or get-out-of-jail-free cards for you!"

Seeing both the hint that this was in order to help her rekindle her relationship with Maki, but also to legitimately keep an eye on her after screwing them with the impostors only to change sides when things went too far, Mako glanced at the rest of Muse, quickly skipped Umi's threatening glare, and answered.

"Well then, name's Mako Omine, a pleasure to study here with you."

Mako flashed a smile.

"Please keep an eye on me, then!"

Umi narrowed her eyes. "Oh trust me, we will!"

"Okay, that's it from us," Nico shrugged. "And since there's still some time before you officially begin the semester this Monday, how about we discuss what to do with you?"

"I know!" Rin chirped. "How about we give her a spot on Muse?"

"What?!" Umi yelled.

"Yeah, we could give her a test to see what she's got," Honoka said, scratching her chin. "And if she passes, we could gain a new member!"

"Double what?!" Umi stomped the ground. "You can't be serious!"

"Don't worry, Umi," Nozomi said. "You won't be replaced if she passes."

Umi flailed her arms up and down. "That's not the problem!"

The rest of the girls laughed as the chapter of this story, filled with mystery, betrayals, disturbing stuff, and a surprisingly criminal lack of NicoMaki, came to a close.

 **The End.**


End file.
